City of Soulless Immortals
by word.oracle
Summary: 2013. Magnus and Alec have been invited to the London Institute. But nothing is ever that simple. London vampires aren't behaving and have to be dealt with and when they meet Silver Edwards, a shadowhunter with a vampire boyfriend, the debate on Magnus's immortality begins. Fighting vampires is definitely on the horizon, surely there will be at least one casualty.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1- Back in London**

"Can't we just take a portal there?" Alec moaned as he walked behind Magnus through the busy streets of London.

Magnus had been invited to meet the new head of the London Institute and stay for a while so he could see the new sites. Alec really wanted to come along with him which he was most likely regretting after realizing how busy the city was and they decided to leave little Max with Maryse and Robert so he could get to know his grandparents. Autumn had started and as they strode through the streets, the cool breeze hit Magnus's black shirt which separated at the bottom to reveal his stomach that people looked at in confusion, the sun stopped the breeze from being too cold and embraced his cheek and his hand that was pulling along his suitcase. Alec had a point, he had the permission to use a portal to get into the Institute, but he hadn't been to London in so long and he wanted to be reminded of its feature- the crowds, the beautiful architecture and the crazy amount of different types of food on one street. Luckily they were walking down Fleet Street now and the Institute was in sight. It looked as extravagant as ever as if it were a gleaming gothic Cathedral, nothing had changed on the outside and he half expected to see a beautiful golden haired man and brown haired woman to walk out to greet him. Instead it was a chocolate skinned man with his runes not standing out as much as they stood out on Alec and he wore a sharp navy blue suit with a straight black tie. Magnus hadn't put much thought into his attire; he changed into the first things he found in his suitcase when they landed and he was suffering from jetlag- all he wanted was to have a drink, some proper food and sleep. Alec looked scruffier than normal with his hair all over the place and his t-shirt half tucked into his jeans.

"Magnus Bane," the man proclaimed as Magnus walked through the gate,

"Jamal Edwards," Magnus tried to speak with the same enthusiasm and failed.

Jamal was very handsome for a man in his 40's, his build was desirable and his dark brown eyes were almost black, making him hard to read. His jaw line was so sharp that Magnus was tempted to run his finger over it and see if he would get cut, but that was the only striking feature he had.

"This is Alexander Lightwood, my boyfriend," Magnus turned to see Alec sitting on top of two suitcases piled on top of each other and grinned,

"It's nice to finally meet you Alec; your mother raved about you over the phone. Come on in and I'll show you to your room," Jamal smiled and offered to take one of the suitcases before walking into the Institute.

When he walked in, Magnus was happy to see that there had been little changes to the inside of the grand building. There were still many tapestries hanging down showcasing runes, stars and swords and there were images of Raziel regularly shown throughout. The floors looked as if they had been freshly polished so that they showed Magnus's reflection clearly, the walls of the corridors had been painted cream to fit in with the castle feeling and there were portraits of former head's and residents of the institute lining the walls of the great regal dining room.

After a ten minute walk in what felt like a maze, they came to the bedroom. Magnus wondered into a dimly lit room with a restored fireplace, a window that gave him a view of the reasonably sized garden full of ornate statues and a water fountain and a TV on a table next to a burgundy dresser which had candles place exactly in each corner. The king sized bed had deep red bedding with golden pillows and fluffy white towels folded perfectly at the foot of the bed. The deep red and lighting of the room made it all feel so very romantic and Magnus turned to Alec with a smile which translated as "This is perfection."

"The kitchen is down the stairs, turn right and then it's the fourth door on your left, you can help yourself to anything. I shall leave to you to rest and I'd like us to meet in the study at noon tomorrow," Jamal said warmly before placing a key for the room on the dresser and then leaving,

"Can we just sleep?" Alec said as he dumped the suitcase by the TV and then himself on the bed,

"I second that motion," Magnus sighed.

He kicked off his shoes, lay next to Alec and watched him brush his hand through his hair. It was moments like this where Magnus just wanted to grab him and kiss and most definitely more until they had no breath left, but the journey to London had taken all energy out of him and instead he softly kissed his cheek before putting his arm around him and resting his head on his shoulder. Alec kissed his head and smiled as they both closed their eyes and fell asleep.

Magnus had already woken up and Alec was taking a shower when a knock came at the door. Magnus answered it to find a caramel skinned girl with dark brown hair that was purple at the tips and put into two plaits. Her hazel eyes were adorably big, she wore little make up and she looked all snug in an oversized Harry Potter jumper, ripped jeans and fluffy slippers. She carried foil containers and bottles of water and coke as if she could sense how hungry Magnus had become.

"We ordered Chinese and I guessed that you would be hungry," she smiled sweetly and had a soft voice,

"Thanks, you are the definition of a life saver right now," Magnus gestured for her to come in.

She put the food on one of the side tables and adjusted the lamps position so it was perfectly centred before doing the same with the other.

"I'm Silver, Jamal's daughter," she said just as Alec entered the room while drying his hair and with a towel wrapped around his waist,

"Nice to meet you, I'm Alec and this is Magnus," he yawned, "do I smell Chinese?"

Both Magnus and Silver laughed, "It's sweet and sour chicken, egg fried rice and duck pancakes," she said with her eyes gazing at Alec's body.

Magnus couldn't really blame her for admiring the beautiful specimen that was Alec; he had been working out more which meant his abs had become more defined like a delicious Hershey bar and his V line was a heartbreaker. Silver decided that she had seen enough and proceeded with straightening the TV on the table. When she realized they were watching her, she made an innocent look, "I'm a real perfectionist and I can't help it,"

"Must come in handy when looking after this place," Alec chuckled as he searched for his clothes,

"Each bedroom is basically identical thanks to me. Oh and dad wanted me to check if you knew where the study was, since apparently you've been here before,"

"I may not be an elephant, but I think I remember," Magnus tried to recall what he could about the layout of the Institute,

"Cool, see you tomorrow."

Silver left the room merrily and Magnus searched the drawers of the bedside tables to find two white plates in bubble wrap. He plonked them on the bed and served out the Chinese, secretly giving himself a bit more of everything while Alec got changed into shorts and a top.

"Did you notice blood on her jumper?" Alec asked as he sat on the bed and took a spoon,

"No, I was distracted by you all wet and in a towel," Magnus shoved a spoonful of rice and chicken in his mouth,

"Remind me to ring mum to check on Max tomorrow,"

"You've asked me to do that like a million times. He's probably fine,"

"I can't help worrying," Alec sighed, "this is the first time we've left him for this long,"

"I know and you worrying is very much the cutest thing you've done so far."

Magnus kissed his cheek before continuing with his meal. He loved how fatherly Alec had become since they adopted Max; it reminded him that he had grown up and that if he could, Magnus would spend the rest of his life with him and their little family. As he ate a duck pancake, Alec looked from his plate to Magnus's before spooning some of the food from Magnus's plate onto his and kissing his cheek.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2- A Day Out**

After contemplating for an hour on whether to get out of bed or not, Magnus and Alec finally started walking down the corridors of the Institute towards the study. It had just gone 12:05 so they were five minutes late, but Magnus had already come up with the excuse that Alec couldn't find anything decent to wear. Straight after their meeting, Magnus was planning on going to the Shard and then Leicester Square as he fancied going to a world based on M&M's. He knew whereabouts the study was, but what really helped him locate it was the heated conversation that echoed down the hall from a slightly opened door.

"You can't just come in at 4am, that's not how it works," Magnus saw Jamal Edwards yelling at his daughter,

"I'm 21, I think all people my age end up coming home late and you don't care that I'm coming back at that time; you just don't want me hanging around that late with Nathaniel," Silver retaliated,

"If it was any other boy, I wouldn't be as bothered, but he is a _vampire_ , you must understand my worry,"

"It has been three years since our relationship started and you still don't trust him or believe that I could defend myself," she sighed, "Can we carry this on later? Magnus and Alec are outside and they've heard enough."

Magnus casually opened the door and dragged Alec in behind him. Jamal looked annoyed that he had been eavesdropping, but Silver looked amused and thankful that they had given her reason to have the last say in their argument. Magnus smiled at her and she chuckled back, "Did you enjoy the Chinese?"

"More than you know," Magnus strolled further into the study.

Like the rest of the rooms, the study was dimly lit with two lamps on the desk towards the back and lamps either side of the bookshelves being the only sources of light. The fire place looked cold and abandoned as it wasn't lit and the curtains were closed as if natural light would harm them. In front of the wooden desk were a long black leather couch and a maroon coffee table with a delicate china tea pot and four cups. Jamal flew open the curtains which Silver flinched at, "I just woke up, my eyes haven't adapted yet,"

"You should've come home earlier then," Jamal grinned before sitting at the desk.

Silver walked over to Alec and Magnus, "Sorry that you had to hear that," she whispered,

"It's okay," Alec assured her,

"I've overheard worse," Magnus replied as they sat on the couch.

Jamal started off the conversation very serious, explaining that he'd like to constantly be in contact with the New York Institute and Magnus on a regular basis and that he would like their assistance on trying to calm down the vampires of London. It then became a little more light hearted with him saying that they could visit whenever they wanted and that Tessa had informed him on Magnus's connection to London. While he talked, Silver seemed very bored and started counting the spots on her top, Alec also became a bit fed up towards the end and he nudged Magnus as a plead to end the meeting. Thankfully, Silver decided to do the honours.

"Why don't you guys get off and go around London, it's almost one o'clock so the best food stalls will be open near London Bridge," she insisted as she stood up,

"Good idea," Alec smiled as he got up and began briskly walking towards the exit.

Magnus shook Jamal's hand and went with Alec and Silver was walking behind them until Jamal stood, "Silver, we have not finished our discussion,"

"They erm, they need someone to show them around," she stuttered,

"Yeah, we didn't even get here on time, we would end up completely lost trying to follow a map," Magnus spoke, becoming her knight in shining armour.

Jamal nodded despite his annoyance and Silver quickly walked out and clapped quietly once they were going down the corridor.

"So, you're dating a vampire," Magnus couldn't help but ask; he had been enticed by the topic,

"Yeah, he's French so that makes up for him being a vampire I guess," she chuckled as they got to her room, "you guys enjoy London and I suggest that you go to Soho at night, you'd fit in."

She winked before closing the door and Magnus and Alec began their London Adventure.

They started off going to London Bridge and taking pictures every minute and then they found a cluster of food stalls where they took more pictures. Alec was wary about eating the food, but after watching Magnus dive into a mouth-watering burger, he gave in and ended up eating a burger and a mountain of homemade pancakes. Next on their list was a colossal glass building names the Shard that actually looked like its name; Alec didn't see why it was such an amazing attraction when they had better in Alicante. They then took one of the very stuffy underground trains to Leicester square where they ventured around M&M world and got a green M&M cushion and bags of every colour of the delicious chocolate. He thought that London was pretty similar to New York; there was a lot of street food, people wouldn't dare make eye contact unless they noticed him looking at them and in a fifteen minute walk, they saw at least four McDonald's and they were all packed. Despite the mass of people, Alec was enjoying London and it was probably mainly because Magnus made it enjoyable by telling stories of when he was in London and how he missed his old friends.

When it got dark, they found a quiet Japanese restaurant not too far from the institute where Magnus taught him how to use chopsticks properly, rather than crossing them over or just stabbing the food and eating it. It was when they were half way through their meal that Alec spotted Silver wearing a white lace covered dress with a black leather jacket. She was laughing with a very attractive guy- his hair was golden like Jace's, he had grey eyes that reflected the light and he was thin but through his long sleeved turtle neck, Alec could see that every muscle in his arms and chest were defined. If he was human, the guy's skin would be the same shade as Alec's; instead it was pale almost as if he was ill.

"I'm guessing that's Silver's vampire boyfriend Nathaniel" Alec whispered to Magnus who indiscreetly searched for them.

They were sitting in the corner with Silver having her back facing them and when both Magnus and Alec continued to analyse them, Nathaniel noticed and grinned.

"He's beautiful," Magnus said as he turned back to face Alec,

"I am here you know," Alec tapped his chopsticks on the table,

"I know and I think you're _gorgeous_ , but you can't deny that he is tasty,"

"I didn't deny it in the first place."

Alec saw Nathaniel chuckle in the corner of his eye- how could he forget that vampires have outstanding hearing and that he would most definitely be able to hear him. Silver then turned around and waved before laughing and getting back to her meal.

"Do we go over and say hello?" Alec was feeling a bit awkward,

"No, I'm enjoying my chicken katsu and this seat is too comfortable to get up."

There was no need for them to get up and say hi as when Alec and Magnus left, so did Silver and Nathaniel and they ended up strolling randomly around London, occasionally stopping so that Alec could take a picture of something he thought was worthy to send back to New York. They walked for an hour, laughing and joking around, sometimes swinging around light poles and daring each other to do ridiculous things.

"It was nice meeting you guys," Nathaniel smiled as they walked up to the Institute,

"You too, hope we can see you again some time," Magnus put his arm around Alec,

"Well, I'm having a birthday party in two days and you're now officially on the guest list."

Before Alec could comment, the doors of the Institute dramatically opened, revealing Jamal in a white t-shirt and jeans with daggers connected to his belt and a seraph blade in his hand. Nathaniel started to look nervous and Silver grabbed his hand and stood in front of him, but Alec knew he wasn't coming out to teach Nathaniel a lesson; there were freshly drawn runes all over him and his was face full of purpose.

"We need to get to Leicester Square," Jamal stated.

Magnus started to look slightly excited at the thought of going back to Leicester Square, until he saw the seriousness in Jamal's face and realized that trouble had started. A woman around sixty scuttled outside with a large black bag, dumped it at Silver's feet and then hurried back inside. Silver opened the bag to find two bows and a bunch of arrows, a gun, daggers and a sword.

"Vampires are causing chaos, we need to get down there now," he explained,

"How does a portal sound?" Magnus suggested as Silver took out the weapons,

"If you wouldn't mind,"

"We're happy to help."

Silver took out her stele which was lavender with silver vines twirling around it and began drawing runes, showing no sign of pain at all. When she was done, Alec automatically opened his hand for the stele. He wanted to help, it was his job. It wasn't like now he was in London he was no longer on duty, he was a Shadowhunter. He was always on duty. Silver gave him the stele and he helped put runes on her arms and shoulders before letting her draw runes on him. Nathaniel took out a couple of daggers from the bag and attached them to his belt while Magnus just buttoned up his waistcoat. Silver grabbed a bow and arrows as well as putting on a belt that she connected the sword to and Alec took the last bow and arrows as well as the last three daggers. They didn't speak while Magnus created a portal and once Jamal had gone through, so did the rest of them. Alec thought he'd just see a pile of dead bodies in every alleyway with a vampire lurking over them or a couple of vampires who had gone wild thanks to intoxicated blood. But what he did see made him wish he was blind.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3- An Imperfect Pair**

Once she exited the portal, Silver could smell and taste blood in the air. They were standing in front of an abandoned bar with many of the windows boarded up and the original red sign 'Black Magic' had lost almost every letter apart from the B and the G. There were a couple of bars and a corner shop on the road, but luckily no one could see them as Nathaniel broke through the boarded up doorway. A sickly smell of damp mixed with blood filled all of their noses as they entered the dark abandoned bar.

"Why are we here?" Silver whispered as she turned on a torch,

"A lycanthrope reported seeing vampires dragging people here against their will," Jamal explained quietly as he led the group into what would have been the dance floor.

The tyrian purple tiles were covered in dust and splatters of both fresh and dry blood. There was a chandelier hanging by a thread over the broken bar, the shelf behind it had bottles of liquor smothered in dust, the black patterned wallpaper was peeling away and all the disco lights had been torn down. Silver walked along side her dad slowly to one side of the room with Alec and Magnus moving towards the other. When she turned to look at Nathaniel, he had perked up and rapidly paced to behind the bar while beckoning Silver to follow him. The moment they stood in front of the liquor shelf, they saw a teenage girl and two teenage boys tied up with tape covering their mouths and tears streaming down their faces. The teenage girl looked paler than the boys and was the only one to have blood trickling down their neck. Nathaniel whispered for them not to make a sound and began untying them and taking the tape off their mouths. He had trained himself to be able to be around blood and not be tempted- the training had resulted in Silver having to almost knock him out several times.

"I can hear other people in two more rooms and I think there are some upstairs as I can't hear them as well," Nathaniel looked up at Silver,

"Alec, you take those three outside to safety, Silver and Nathaniel go upstairs and I'll stay down here with Magnus. If a vampire approaches you, fatally injure it, or even better, kill it," Jamal demanded.

Silver nodded and followed Nathaniel through a corridor and up a flight of stairs where the sound of screaming suddenly filled their ears. They ran up the stairs to a room lit by candles on the floor. In the middle, a woman had been strung up by her wrists with her feet tied together and she was wearing just her bra and underwear with bleeding cuts covering her body. Five vampires stood behind her with blades dripping with blood in their hands and blood covering their lips and chin, they all looked different ages but had the same amount of thirst in their eyes. When they saw Silver, that thirst grew. She loaded her bow which triggered the vampires to quickly move towards her. But she was faster. Before one of them could even take three steps, he had an arrow plunging into his heart and was screaming on the floor until he died. Her arrows and her bow had religious symbols covering them and were occasionally covered in holy water, making any vampire who was on the receiving end of her precision suffer an agonising death. Nathaniel grabbed a dagger from his belt and began to fight one of the elder looking vampires as two more came towards Silver.

"Ready to die one last time?" she grinned as she loaded her bow again.

The vampires- one woman and a teenage boy- growled at her with their fangs on show and drew their blades. As the boy approached her at speed, she span and kicked back, sending him into the wall and as he flew back, she fired her arrow into his chest. The other vampire swiped her knife at Silver which she dodged and then kicked her hand so the knife clattered onto the floor. The woman then pounced on her, digging her long nails into Silver's back which created a bearable pain and she tried her best to bite her neck. With one free arm, Silver grabbed an arrow and when she was pushed back against the wall, she stuck the arrow into the vampire's back so it went through her heart. She fell onto the floor, allowing Silver to see Nathaniel being punched as he fought two vampires and in the corner of her eye, she saw another creep towards him. In the speed of light, Silver had released an arrow that hit one vampire and was running towards Nathaniel while she put her bow around her body and grabbed her sword. She jumped and flipped to land with her back against Nathaniel's and struck her sword down on a vampire's head so he was cut in half. At the exact moment that the vampire's two sides hit the floor, Nathaniel grabbed the neck of a young vampire and flipped over him so his neck broke and his head flew against the wall. There was no time to catch their breath; there was a woman bleeding slowly to death in the middle of the room.

"Just stay calm," Nathaniel said as they untied her.

She slumped into Nathaniel's arms and shook from the cold that was shown all over her body.

"My daughter is here," she struggled to get the words out,

"We've got people going round. Don't worry, we'll find her," Silver spoke softly as they began to make their way to the exit.

As they walked down the stairs, two vampires blocked their way and before Silver could shoot her arrows, Magnus made them hover in the air while choking and as blue sparks exploded from his hands, their throats were slit and they fell in a bundle on the floor.

They got onto the street outside the bar and carefully set the almost naked woman down. Silver put her jacket around her and looked around to see if her father had come outside with them. There was no sign of him or Alec and Magnus had quickly gone back inside, leaving Silver sitting next to the woman with Nathaniel. She was happy to see that Nathaniel was coping as his turtle neck and hands were covered in blood, yet he showed no sign of feeling uncomfortable or tempted.

"You did well in there," Nathaniel looked at her,

"Thanks, you weren't too bad," she replied with a slight giggle.

There was a crying growing louder from the bar and soon, Alec came out holding a young girl with tears covering her face and cuts on her arms. He was followed by Jamal who had one man leaning on him so that he didn't fall and another over his shoulder and Magnus was the last to leave and used his magic to board up the doorway. Thankfully, her dad wasn't hurt much- he only had a scratch on his face- and Alec's hair had become a dusty mess. The girl in Alec's arms, jumped out once she saw the woman sitting next to Silver and cried as they hugged.

"Mum, promise me we'll never come here again," she sobbed.

Magnus reached his arm out into mid her and his hand disappeared, but when it came back, he was holding a massive jumper and jackets. They put them around the nine people they have saved before contemplating what to do with them.

"We need to somehow get rid of their memories of this night," Jamal said,

"I can," Nathaniel started but he was interrupted by Jamal,

"I'd prefer it if Magnus could perform a spell,"

"That's a decent idea, but instead of ignoring him, I would like help from Nathaniel, seeing as he can also alter their memory of what has happened," Magnus replied.

Alec and Silver tried to contain their laughter at the sass that had just been emitted by Magnus while he and Nathaniel sat in front of the survivors and began their work. Magnus had blue energy and sparks come from his hands as he healed the people to the best of his ability and he then encased their heads in his hands to take away their memories. Nathaniel came after him, looked deep into their eyes and told them what to think had happened. Silver looked back as she walked away to see nine confused people stumbling around until they remembered their way home.

Nathaniel lived close to Leicester Square so instead of heading back to the Institute, Silver went back to his flat. It was spacious with wooden floors throughout, apart from the bathroom, the walls were a sky blue in the living room and the corridors and his bedroom walls were painted navy with a white border. She loved how simple his room was; it was made up of a wardrobe, a laptop on a cushion, an electric piano and three king sized mattresses piled up with a sheet covering them and a duvet to create a bed.

"You didn't have to come back with me," he said as he took off his jumper and threw it onto the floor,

"In truth, I just didn't want to go back with my dad," she admitted, "I hate how he treats you and sometimes I just need to be away from that place."

Nathaniel held her in his arms and she rested her head on his hard, cold chest. She had gotten used to touching his chest and feeling no heartbeat, going to sleep knowing that he's going to be asleep when she wakes up and it was difficult but worth it.

"He's going to have an even worse view about you after tonight," she sighed,

He lifted her head and gazed into her grey eyes, "I don't care as long as he doesn't take you away from me."

She giggled before kissing him softly and putting her arms around him. His hand slid down her back, down to her hips and she ran her fingers through his smooth soft hair as their kisses became more passionate. As he kissed her neck, they stumbled and fell onto the bed. He unzipped her dress, rolled so he was on top of her and kissed her shoulder as he slowly slid her dress off of her. It had taken four tries for them to be able to have sex without his fangs making an appearance and having to leave the flat for a good ten minutes. Sometimes it would start to become difficult for him to carry on but he would anyway, leaving her with bruises from his restraint making him increasingly strong. However, she didn't mind him hurting her as she knew he didn't want to and it had become very rare for him to do so. She heard her phone ring as she pulled down his trousers and bit his neck. It was likely to be her father, but nothing was going to interrupt this. She pushed her phone to the other side of the room while Nathaniel kissed her from her lips downwards and she giggled.

"That was amazing," Nathaniel rolled onto his back after they had sex,

"I try," Silver smiled.

Even though she was a bit hot, she cuddled up to him and he put his arm around her and stroked her arm.

"You should get some sleep," he whispered,

"I hate that you'll be awake though," she sighed as she played with his fingers,

"I know, but I'm fine with watching you sleep and I have to go to the lair in a bit anyway."

Silver went silent as she watched Nathaniel not even breathe when she was still catching her breath. She had indentified all the perks of dating a vampire: he knew so much about the world that she didn't need a tour guide when they went abroad, he would come to her within a minute whenever she called for him at night and he was good to train with. However, it always hovered in her mind that she would never be able to promise never to leave him and that she was dating someone who, even though he truly loved her, would eventually move on after she died and find someone to replace her. She wondered if Alec felt how she did, she wondered if she'd be with Nathaniel if he wasn't a vampire.

"I love you" she yawned as she closed her eyes, and as if he could read her thoughts, Nathaniel replied with,

"I will always and forever love you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4- The Partner of an Immortal**

"Has events like what happened last night been happening a lot?" Alec asked Jamal.

They had met in the study and Alec sat on the couch while Jamal leant back on the desk. Magnus didn't want to wake up early, since early to him was 11am, so Alec thought he would talk to Jamal himself. He was 23 now, he knew he should've been able to have serious meetings with other Shadowhunters and leaders, but he had been used to watching his parents do it. Jamal looked overdressed compared to Alec as he wore a suit and Alec put on a large black jumper and jeans.

"They are becoming more frequent, our last incident was a couple of days ago," Jamal explained,

"Well, this could be due to a new leader," Alec suggested,

"Or they're just being careless leeches,"

"My boyfriend is one of those leeches," Silver interrupted as she walked into the study.

She wore what was clearly a man's striped shirt with ripped jeans and red flat shoes. Her hair was let free in its natural slightly frizzy state and she carried a letter in her hand. There was a serious streak in her face as she approached her father and handed him the letter.

"I have set up to have a meeting with the new leader of the London vampires. Her name is Eleanor Thana and according to Nathaniel, she doesn't like the idea of following rules," Silver sat next to Alec,

"What time are we meeting her?" Jamal inquired,

" _I_ am meeting her tonight before my late training. I don't know what you'll be doing,"

"You are _not_ doing this on your own,"

"Nathaniel will be watching. I have set up this meeting in confidence knowing that Eleanor has something against Shadowhunters after the Circle slaughtered most of her comrades and she specifies in the letter that she will _only_ meet with me."

Jamal had become frustrated and Alec could understand why- his daughter had basically told him that he wasn't needed in such a serious matter. If Alec had said that to his father, he was pretty sure he'd be lectured to the point where he could only walk back to his apartment and complain to Magnus about him. But there was something in Jamal that kept stopping him from snapping at Silver and Alec could see it in his dark eyes and the way he had to stop himself from speaking for at least ten seconds.

"Tell me how it goes when you come back," he spoke feebly,

"Of course," Silver smiled,

"I think we should put our plans of action on hold until Silver reports back about her meeting with Eleanor and then we will know what is really going on," Alec stood up.

Silver nodded and stood up by him with Jamal agreeing before they left the study. Jamal went to the left towards the music room and Silver walked the opposite way along side Alec. He had many questions that he felt like asking, mainly to fill the silence, but also because he was just being plain nosey.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but where is your mother?" Alec asked delicately,

Silver took a deep breath, "We were visiting my grandmother in Alicante in 2007 when the Dark War began there. My father and I survived, however my mother and three sisters didn't. Luckily we found their bodies and buried them here in London. It's the reason why my father is so annoyingly protective."

Alec felt her sadness as she talked and was surprised by how she could say all of that without choking up and having tears creep down her face. He knew what it was like to lose a sibling that night in Alicante, but to lose three as well as your mother must have been a hundred times worse than the torture he felt. She opened the door to her room and Alec followed her in. Her room was different to the others with white walls, a burgundy carpet floor and a plasma TV on the wall opposite her four-poster bed. Hanging on the wall was a massive framed photo of Silver and her family in what Alec recognised to be Alicante. Her mother had milky skin, but looked almost exactly like Silver and her three sisters looked either like a mixture of their parents or more like Jamal. The smiles on their faces had a sense of sorrow to them now that Alec knew what the fate of the family was to be after that photo was taken.

"I lost my little brother as well," Alec spoke softly and sat next to Silver on her bed,

"It sucks doesn't it?" Silver looked at the picture of her family,

"It sure does. What was worse was that I couldn't save him and the person who killed him deceived us and became close to us."

Alec could feel tears in his eyes. He would rarely speak about Max. When he had died, he found it hard to keep himself together and every year when it was supposed to be his birthday, he wouldn't leave the bedroom. Silver held his hand and smiled at him.

"At least we have family left," she said with a tear rolling down her cheek,

"At least we have family left," Alec repeated with a sniff.

Silver got up and gave him a bottle of cider from her mini fridge before turning on the TV. Instead of watching the movie she had picked, they talked and joked about things that had happened in their lives as well as their relationships.

"So you understand what it's like dating someone who can say what life was like almost hundred years ago," Silver laughed,

"Yeah, he still has clothes from the 1600's at the back of his wardrobe, but he doesn't know I've seen them," Alec couldn't stop laughing,

"He tells me not to make fun of him, but when it was his 99th birthday, I bought him a walking stick and dentures,"

"I'm doing that for Christmas, thank you so much."

To interrupt their infinite laughter, Magnus stuck his head through the door. His hair was a mess and he was squinting, probably because he had just woken up. When Alec saw him, he couldn't help but start to laugh even more to the point where he almost fell onto the floor and his cheeks began to ache.

"What are you two doing?" Magnus asked as he walked in.

His robe was tied up loosely so his chest could be seen and he was only wearing black boxers underneath in true Magnus style. Alec and Silver tried to speak, but they were in stitches on the bed to the point where Alec's face went red and Silver had to desperately gasp for air. There was complete confusion written all over Magnus's face which made their cackling grow.

"What's so funny?" Magnus put his hands on his hips,

"Nothing, old man," Silver chuckled,

"Yeah," Alec took a break to fill his lungs with air, "keep your wig on," and then resumed his death by laughter.

Magnus attempted to talk to them twice, but gave up and went back to his room when Silver fell on the floor in a ball. Alec didn't know why he couldn't stop laughing. He guessed it was because he had never looked at the light when it came to having an immortal boyfriend, only the gloomy dark side that regularly occupied his mind.

It eventually got to the afternoon and Silver and Alec had moved to the kitchen where she made them baguette sandwiches and lemonade. They were getting along like a house on fire and Alec wanted to ask her something that only she could answer.

"How do you feel about the whole immortal thing?" Alec asked as he stirred the ice in his glass with his straw,

"That's a very difficult question," Silver began and swallowed her mouthful, "I don't really know how to feel about. It's depressing that I will die and he'll live on to find someone to replace me with, but I just have to have faith that he won't forget me too easily. Sometimes I wish he wasn't immortal, but his immortality has been a big part of his life and how do you take something so important away from someone just like that?"

Alec nodded, "Magnus said that he had been thinking about losing his immortality, but I don't think he'll ever go through with it and I partly don't want him to. If he wasn't immortal, I wouldn't be here and a big part of Shadowhunter history wouldn't have even happened. It's like his immortality isn't a part of him, it is him."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5- Eleanor Thana**

Silver pulled on the sleeves of her black knitted jumper as she stood outside a building on the backstreets of Piccadilly Circus. She had attached daggers to the belt of her high wasted jeans which meant that they would not be seen by the person she was planning on meeting. It had just become dark and she had pressed the buzzer of a seemingly normal building three times. Eventually, the door was opened by a girl who looked sixteen years old and was dressed in a black skirt so short that it might as well have been a belt and a lace crop top. She had bite marks all over her neck and her wrists which explained her pale complexion.

"You're Silver Edwards right?" she asked with unnecessary attitude,

"That's right," Silver responded.

The girl led her up a flight of stairs through a black front door and then to a gothic themed living room. Sitting on a black and dark purple chaise lounge was a tall woman with jet black hair that went down to her knees and navy blue eyes that had no light in them. She wore a black silk dressing gown that was open enough for Silver to notice her lace bra and underwear.

"Go to the bedroom and stay there, Veronica," the woman demanded as she stood up with her eyes fixed on Silver, "and tell Nathaniel that we shall finish our meeting soon"

Veronica hurried off.

"I'm Eleanor Thana, leader of the London Vampires," she explained,

"I'm Silver Edwards; my father is the head of the London Institute," Silver replied,

"I know," Eleanor approached Silver in a threatening manner, "Now, let me get to the point. I have never liked Shadowhunters, not after the Circle came along and dismembered my family while in America, however you seem trust worthy. The fact is that I want the vampires of London to be able to drink as they please and no fancy gymnast in black is going to stop that. I have had my clan come to me saying that they are afraid of you people slaughtering them while feeding and they therefore go for days and sometimes weeks without blood. Do you have any idea how weak that makes them? I say this to you when you probably don't give a shit about us and a little girl like you won't stop me from changing things around here for vampires."

Eleanor towered over Silver with her chest in her face, making Silver quite envious of her boobs that spilled over her bra, when hers were petite little things. It was obvious that she thought that Silver was weak which was understandable as she was quite delicate looking until she put makeup on and wore her heels. Silver didn't mind vampires, she thought they were just misunderstood like all Downworlders, but Eleanor was clearly a vampire who just wanted trouble. A sinister grin grew on her face as Silver tried to think of something clever to say.

"You know, I like vampires, the ones I have encountered have been alright," Silver began to walk around the room, "But you give off a vibe that smells like hostility. I don't mind you feeding; you have to drink blood and I understand that. I can live knowing that there will be a couple of incidents where you don't clean up after yourselves and we'll have to step in and remind you of what we expect of you. However, when you are treating humans like animals, stringing them up, sucking their blood and leaving them on the streets without even bothering to make sure they don't remember what happened, that's when I start to lose my patience. I expect you to clean up your act. I expect there to be almost no bodies piled up on the streets with bite marks on their necks, I expect you to deal with your victims with dignity and finally, I expect you to treat me with respect. My father would've preferred to have you locked up and most of you killed, but luckily for you, you're dealing with me and I am much more lenient."

Eleanor seemed shocked at how confident Silver was. Her servant, Veronica, was noticeably eavesdropping with her head poking out from the corridor and her face was as stunned as her masters. Silver didn't like being intimidating, she wanted to be friends with everyone and she thought that after everything, Shadowhunters and Downworlders would treat each other with the same amount of respect. But it was evident that there was still room for improvement. She didn't stand too close to Eleanor and looked her in the eyes.

"Now, I'd follow my every word, or next we meet, I will have a reason to use my daggers," Silver pulled on her jumper,

"Well, if that is all," Eleanor didn't seem fazed by her threat, "I shall take in what you have said and decide in due course whether it shall spill out of the other ear. Veronica, show Miss Edwards out."

Veronica hurried across to the door and gestured for Silver to follow. As she left, Silver saw Eleanor crack her knuckles and kick the sofa before pouring herself a drink. Pride went through Silver as she walked down the stairs and Veronica opened the door.

"Don't come back, I prefer not to have the stink of you Nephilim around where I sleep," Veronica taunted,

"Of course," Silver turned to her, "but the sight of you in that skirt that you don't even have to pull up to pee in is much worse than any smell, trust me."

Silver did the honours of pulling the door closed and made her way back home.

"I do not like that girl," Eleanor announced as she entered her bedroom.

Nathaniel had heard her brief meeting with Silver and was glad that he didn't have to step in. The only reason why he was there was to make sure that Silver didn't get hurt, he didn't even like Eleanor. The dreaded woman only knew how to rule by fear and the clan was split in half when it came to who could stand her and who would happily cut her head off with a chainsaw. He sat on her bed in her dark gothic room. Everything was in some way black, the walls were black with red glitter at the top, the bed was completely black apart from the deep purple blanket and the lamps were white with black lace.

"She seemed reasonable," Nathaniel said,

"They all do. They all start off with a polite mask and then they take it off and they're these vile, inconsiderate bastards," Eleanor hissed as she took off her robe and put on a long black dress.

It was tempting to punch her in the stomach, but the whole plan was that she didn't find out about him and Silver; if she did, she'd have more power over him than she already did and he knew she'd use it against Silver.

"Some may be genuinely nice, like that Alec guy," he protested,

"Yeah, he's cute. It's a shame he's gay, I wonder if a few drinks would change that," she grinned as she put on her gloves, "sooner or later, I'm going to have to deal with that swine again and I may not be able to resist choking her. She strutted around the room like she owned the place, as if she is one million times better than us,"

"Well, you can be very intimidating; maybe she was just trying to be confident."

Eleanor whipped her head round with a death stare that pierced right into him. Maybe he should've chosen better words, but how could he not defend his girlfriend, especially when she was being called a swine by someone who was the true definition of the word.

"You're lucky I like you, Nathaniel; if Veronica had said that, I would bite her and not stop until she took her last breath. I hope you and I can be friends and if you play your cards right, maybe more," Eleanor grabbed her clutch and walked into the living room where Veronica stood with her jacket ready.

They were off to speak to a bunch of vampires that had kept themselves distant from their clan and Eleanor wanted them to follow her, find another city or die. Nathaniel wished she had taken a liking to any other vampire, but he was cursed with being French with blonde hair and blue eyes which made him hard to resist. Their last leader didn't mind other vampires not being a part of the clan as long as they didn't cause trouble, why everything had to become a do or die situation with Eleanor, he didn't understand.

"Make sure you've rested for when I come back," Eleanor told Veronica as she patted her head and put on her jacket, "I may be hungry after this,"

"What do we do if they don't want to be affiliated with us," Nathaniel dared to ask as they walked down the steps,

"I hope it won't come to that, honey. Let's just say, I don't like it when I don't get what I want and if that's the case, it will get very messy."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6- Party Animal**

The next day was Nathaniel's birthday party. Alec and Magnus visited Buckingham Palace in the morning, then had a late breakfast at a small French café, before returning to the Institute and going back to sleep. Silver had told them to meet her in the kitchen for 18:00 and Alec was determined to be on time, whereas Magnus was more concerned about what to wear.

"The red shirt makes me stand out, but I haven't worn the white and blue one yet," Magnus contemplated,

"As long as you're wearing the black leather pants, I'm happy," Alec said as he sprayed himself with cologne.

Magnus threw his head back and laughed briefly as he decided on the white and blue shimmering shirt matched with a black blazer that had a navy rim and his smart black shoes. To contrast with Magnus's flamboyance, Alec wore jeans, a white shirt and a blazer that Izzy had bought him for his birthday. It took Magnus another fifteen minutes to experiment with his makeup, with each minute being signalled by Alec telling him to hurry up.

Eventually, at 17:59, they made it to the kitchen where Silver stood putting presents into a bag. She looked balletic and graceful in her cream yoked skirt with a black bow at the waist and a black lace top that had puff sleeves. On the counter were black ballet pumps that she'd use to replace her stilettos and her hair was curled into ringlets at the end. Alec may have been gay, but even he couldn't deny that she looked stunning.

"I feel underdressed," he grinned,

"You should," Magnus replied while fixing his hair in the reflection of the kitchen window,

"I think you look cute," Silver smiled as she applied more lip-gloss and put on a gothic black choker with a red gem in the middle.

They walked out of the Institute where a cab was waiting for them and it took fifteen minutes for them to get to Nathaniel's apartment that was built into an abandoned warehouse. There were a bunch of vampire bikes parked by the front door and people making out at the side of the building, forgetting that they could still be seen. Alec could see blue and red lights beaming from a window and the silhouettes of people dancing with drinks in their hands. As they got out of the cab, Nathaniel- in a white shirt, black jeans and a fedora- came up to them.

"Thanks for coming," he shook Magnus's hand and then Alec's,

"I never say no to a party," Magnus replied.

Nathaniel took the bag of presents from Silver before hugging her and kissing her.

"The vampires are cool with you coming and I'm sure you'll get along," Nathaniel ended up yelling by the time they got inside his apartment.

Music blared from two speakers by the TV, sending a buzz through Alec's feet, the kitchen had been transformed into a bar with a blonde vampire mixing drinks and the multicoloured lights hypnotised Alec into wanting to join the crowd of dancing people. But before any dancing could commence, Silver was adamant on Alec and Magnus meeting her friends who all happened to be Downworlders, apart from a couple of Shadowhunters. Soon enough, Alec had an unknown and almost finished drink in his hand and was dancing in the kitchen opposite Magnus and with two random faeries that had taken a liking to him. His version of dancing was stepping side to side and nodding his head to the beat as he didn't think this was the right place to embarrass himself. However, when Magnus dragged him into the living room, the several drinks along with the song and energy that radiated off of everyone made him start jumping and moving his arms around wildly like everyone else. Who knew that a 100th birthday party would be the most dynamic party of them all?

Alec wasn't sure if he was drunk or if he was just embracing the party animal spirit and when he stopped to get a glass of water, he realized how precious oxygen was. He had lost track of where his blazer was and he was starting to understand the meaning of tipsy. As he caught his breath, a tall woman approached him. Her hair was the colour of midnight which matched her lipstick and the colour of her crop top and maxi skirt. When she noticed him, she smiled seductively and ran her fingers along the rim of her glass. It was nice to know that he wasn't only attractive to Magnus and the drink manipulated him to wink at her.

"How is a pretty girl like you not dancing with a guy?" he was surprised that the words came out of his mouth,

"Well, maybe you could fix that," the woman stroked her arm as he poured himself more water,

"I am way too exhausted for that," Alec chuckled, "and I am a circle, definitely not straight,"

"Actually, it is speculated that a circle has a great number of straight sides that makes it curvy,"

"Well, that's not me."

Alec didn't like how close the woman was getting and he giggled awkwardly while looking for Magnus in the moving crowd. It was when she rested her head on his shoulder that Magnus appeared with his shirt gradually falling off him and beads of sweat running down his glimmering chest.

"This one is taken and I wouldn't even think about fighting over him," Magnus poured himself a vibrant coloured drink,

"Magnus Bane I believe," the woman backed away,

"Your beliefs are correct. Who are you?"

"Eleanor Thana, leader of the London vampires."

She suddenly became less interested in Alec and focussed on the people dancing in the living room. Alec followed her gaze to see Nathaniel with Silver laughing on his shoulders. She was tapping his head like a drum with one hand and drinking with the other and she was perfectly balanced- like a true Shadowhunter. Her lipstick was on Nathaniel's neck and cheeks and while Alec found it cute, Eleanor seemed frustrated.

"Come on Alexander, I want to see those crazy moves of your again," Magnus laughed as he pulled him into the crowd.

Even though his feet were starting to hurt, Alec couldn't stop dancing and he soon found himself jumping up and down on the couch with a party horn in his mouth. There was a vampire swinging from the hanging lights while drinking, Magnus was shooting streamers from his fingertips and Nathaniel was dancing on the counter with his top off and crown on his head. Even when the music stopped for a couple of minutes, they sang at the top of their lungs and when someone knocked on the door to complain about the noise, they promised to quieten down, but then completely forgot about it.

Alec decided to take a break and sat in Nathaniel's bedroom while drinking one bottle of water after the other. Everything was getting blurry and off balance, being drunk was somewhat new to him and he was still contemplating on whether it was a good sensation or something he should never experience again. Magnus came in to join him with his shirt tied around his waist and his hair dripping with water that was poured over him.

"Is this what it's like to live your life?" it took Alec a little longer than usual to speak,

"Pretty much, but it's this around four nights in a row," Magnus panted as he sat down,

"You know, you're really hot with wet hair," Alec ran his fingers through Magnus's hair and then down his chest.

A rush of heat came over Alec and he intensely kissed Magnus. As they passionately made out, Alec's hands explored Magnus's body from his hair down to his legs and he was sure that it was the amount of drinks he had had controlling him, but he wasn't complaining and neither was Magnus. He took Magnus's shirt from around his waist and threw it behind him as Magnus took off Alec's top and kissed his neck. Tingles went through Alec's body and as he gasped he closed his eyes…and passed out.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7- New Arrivals**

Alec woke up to see Magnus on one side of him and empty bottles on the other. His back ached from the wooden floor he had slept on, it felt like someone was drilling holes into his head and even something as simple as blinking became agonizing. He got up, put his top on and scanned the room. The windows had been boarded up, stopping the smallest amount of light from coming through, Nathaniel was sleeping in his bed with his crown next to him and Magnus was lying in just his boxers and holding onto a massive stuffed panda. There was a noise coming from the kitchen which he followed to discover Silver in Nathaniel's shirt making breakfast. The smell of waffles and coffee was the only pleasant thing that Alec was experiencing and he went straight for the cup of coffee he spotted on the counter.

"You're quite the party animal," Silver spoke with a worn out voice.

All Alec could do in response was grunt and attempt to smile before taking a much needed gulp of hot coffee. There were still empty bottles on the counter, there was a cup with a bright green liquid in begging to be drunk and as for the rest of the apartment, it was as if a tornado had spent an hour in there and then a bomb had gone off just for good measure. There were some people sleeping on the living room floor and the sofa and Alec guessed that all the vampires had gone home to have a well earned slumber. He really wished he could join them. Silver placed a plate of waffles with maple syrup in front of Alec and topped up his coffee with a smile. He was surprised that she could even function after last night.

"Do you remember anything from last night?" Silver asked as she drank some coffee,

"That's an excellent question," Alec paused to think which hurt, "I remember drinking, dancing, drinking some more and a vampire with black hair hitting on me. I think her name was something Thanny."

As he dug into his food, he saw Silver's complexion go from the colour of caramel to almost beige and her eyes widen. She started to bite her bottom lip and fiddle with her fingers.

"Do you mean Eleanor Thana?" her voice wobbled,

"Yeah, that's it. She's kind of creepy and she reacted weirdly to you and Nathaniel," Alec spoke with his mouth full,

"Shit!" Silver washed her hands and walked into Nathaniel's room.

Alec would've followed her to see what all of the fuss was about, but instead he happily ate his waffles, drank a river of coffee and tried to come to terms with his torturing hangover.

Silver tapped Nathaniel lightly at first, but that didn't seem to have any affect. With a swift hit around his head, he was up and cursing in French.

"We have a problem," she whispered,

"Pourquoi?" Nathaniel slowly sat up.

A knot was beginning to grow in Silver's stomach and she almost felt like throwing up her coffee. She had gotten quite drunk last night, but she had always had pleasant hangovers of only a minor headache and occasionally a fuzzy mind. What was making her hangover horrible was the thought of Eleanor, who already didn't like her, finding out about her and Nathaniel as she would most definitely be angry about it.

"Alec just told me that Eleanor didn't respond well when she saw you and me together," she said as she sat next to him,

"Probably because she has a thing for me," Nathaniel muttered to himself, "well no one told her about us right?"

"Right,"

"Then she can only suspect that we're together; she has no proof. We'll just be more careful around her."

She knew that she should've felt at ease with Nathaniel's words, but Silver couldn't help but worry; she didn't want such a perfect relationship to be ruined. She kissed his cheek and rested her head on his shoulder.

"This would be a perfect moment for a cuddle, but I'm exhausted and I have to sort out the clan as it seems to be divided and I am apparently the angel of peace," he yawned and kissed her slowly before sinking back into his bed.

When Silver got back to the institute, she was greeted by not only her father, but also the James' that were taking residence there to help out. They were the stereotypical perfect Shadowhunter family: a stern father, a sweet mother, a cocky older sister, an alright middle brother and an adorable younger sister. All of them had brown hair and pale skin, but their eyes varied from brown to green. Her father suggested that she should do training in the attic with Grace, the eldest. She was very tall with hair that spiralled down to her elbows and what made Silver even more jealous, was how thin she was, but these were the only good qualities Silver had discovered when talking to her on the way to the attic.

"I must warn you, I am a highly skilled Shadowhunter when it comes to combat," Grace boasted as they walked up the stairs,

"Go easy on me then," Silver replied as she discretely rolled her eyes.

They had changed the attic so that there was a long bench on the far side that could be opened to reveal their weapons. There were two old fashioned glass door cabinets on the right wall which contained Silver and Jamal's preferred weapons as well as the seraph blades and there was a black wardrobe in the far right corner that protected their Shadowhunter gear. They hadn't really put much effort into the attic when they moved in; they just wanted to make sure that the main parts of the Institute felt as homey as possible.

"The weapons are over there," Silver pointed to the black bench as she walked over to her cabinet.

In it were two versions of her bow and arrows, one was used during battle with religious symbols and runes on, the other was a normal silver one with her mother's name on it in gold and was only used for practice. She grabbed her practice one as well as a couple of daggers and a sword and when she turned around, she saw Grace stood in the middle of the room with two o katana samurai swords by her side and a dagger attached to her belt.

"You seriously use a bow and arrow?" Grace asked as if she was superior,

"Yeah, why?" Silver asked as she stood opposite her,

"No reason, it's just…..slow."

Silver didn't even want to waste breath on replying and instead leant slightly back into a stance and raised her bow. Grace smirked and raised her swords. She then pounced with her swords coming down on Silver who lifted her bow above her head which the swords clanged on and then kicked Grace in the stomach. Grace stumbled back, but showed no signs of pain and readied herself to strike again. Silver replaced her bow with her sword and swirled it in her hand to get used to the feeling of the cool metal. Their swords clashed again and again, Silver had to move twice as fast due to Grace having two swords and when she brought her sword down on her, Grace caught it between her swords and swiped it out of her hand before slashing Silver's arm. Grace grinned at the sight of the blood the stained Silver's white shirt.

"Check," Grace positioned herself.

The arrogance streaming from Grace was almost sickening to Silver and she grabbed her bow and three arrows as she shrugged off her stinging arm. She advanced towards Grace who attempted to strike her with her sword, but Silver caught it with her bow and then kicked it out of her hand. She then used her arrows like one sword, hitting them against Grace's and as they fought, they moved backwards towards the right wall. When their weapons collided, Silver wasted no time with wondering if she could overcome her strength. She jumped, pressed her legs on the wall as if walking on it and after two steps, she swung her leg and kicked Grace's shoulder. Grace dropped her sword and when she landed, Silver loaded her bow and fired all three arrows one after another. One arrow pinned up strands of Grace's brown hair and the other two had struck her sleeves, but she was not harmed. With a smug grin, Silver walked up to Grace who was shaking and begging to be let down from the wall.

Silver pulled the arrow from her hair and waved it in front of her face, "Checkmate."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8- Making a Move**

"One at a time, please," Nathaniel commanded.

Tonight, it was Nathaniel's job to keep the peace in his clan by having a debate on where they all stood. Last time he checked, the clan was split in half on whether they liked Eleanor, but this time, it turned out that most them now wanted Eleanor to lose her power and some even wanted her dead. Their lair was in a massive abandoned warehouse by the Thames that had a contrasting luxurious gothic interior with candle chandeliers in the entrance and some of the hanging lights had patterned light shades over them that made the rooms look like they were in a forest. The meeting they were having was held in the usual room that had a platform towards the back, a window with burgundy curtains stopping any light from intruding and black chairs rimming the sides.

"She's only standing up for us, so why are you complaining?" yelled one man from the back,

"I've been in this clan for three hundred years and she has been the worst leader ever!" a woman proclaimed who stood by Nathaniel.

He was starting to get frustrated at how, despite them wanting him to do something, they wouldn't listen to him and it was starting to get way too cramped on the main floor.

"ALL OF YOU LISTEN TO ME!" Nathaniel exclaimed as he stepped onto the platform.

Every head in the room snapped towards him and silence descended. Many were shocked at his outburst and all of them looked at him with some sort of respect and as if they were willing to do whatever he said.

"I have written a letter on whether Eleanor is to be kicked off of her throne. If most of you sign under the column agreeing to what is written, then she will have to resign as leader and we will choose another, if most of you sign under the column that disagrees, then she shall stay," he explained, "this is the only reasonable way of sorting this out and if there are any more fights, I will personally sort them out."

Nathaniel nailed the letter that was written on a large piece of parchment to the back wall and made his signature the first to agree to Eleanor stepping down. When he pushed through the crowd, exited the room and began to walk down the corridor, he saw Eleanor standing outside of his room. He only had a room because he was needed so much recently so there was no point of leaving sometimes and the contents of it were a desk for his laptop, a double bed for when he was exhausted and a wardrobe. Without speaking, he opened the door and allowed Eleanor to follow him into his room before closing the door.

"What can I help you with?" Nathaniel asked as he took his jacket off and hung it up,

"I just wanted to know where we stand," Eleanor spoke strangely softly.

Her hair was tied up into a high pony tail and she was in her most comfortable clothing: a red lace bra and matching underwear with a black silk dressing gown. If he wasn't in a relationship, Nathaniel guessed that he would've been turned on by her, but she had no affect on him and he was tempted to hand her one of his tops and jeans to wear.

"I would expect you to know where we stand. Have I not been loyal to you?" he replied and sat on his bed,

"You have, but I wasn't talking about your loyalty," she started to untie the ribbon that was keeping her robe around her.

She sat on his lap with her legs either side of him and began to run her fingers through his hair and kiss his neck. Nathaniel froze, mainly because he had never been in this situation before, but he knew she had a desire for him which made it expected. He attempted to push her off him gently and to retaliate, she pushed him to the bed and pinned his hands up above his head.

"Eleanor, stop," he said, trying to be kind as he pushed her away with his legs.

She didn't listen. Instead, she pushed off her robe and put her hand up his shirt. Nathaniel wanted to give her a chance to see that she being stupid and that he didn't feel the same, but she obviously hadn't clocked on and was allowing her want for things to always go her way take over her.

"I said stop," he almost growled as he kicked her off of him.

She flew into the wall, but she wasn't hurt. As he got up and handed her her robe and he saw no embarrassment in her face, he couldn't even decipher any emotion. She looked him in the eyes for a second before making her way to the door.

"You'll regret that," she whispered and then left.

Nathaniel took no notice of threats as they were usually just empty words, but as it came from Eleanor, the tiniest hint of fear appeared. He packed a bag with most of his stuff and made his way down the stairs towards the exit, but standing in front of the door was David. Nathaniel had bitten David while he was dying and they had become best friends since then. His black hair was always slicked back, he had deep brown eyes and the only colour on his pale skin was his black beauty mark by his almond shaped eyes.

"Leaving so soon?" David asked,

"I have to; a threat from Eleanor is my cue to hide," Nathaniel put his bag down,

"You know, most of us are behind you in getting rid of her and half of those who agree with you are ready to fight her,"

"Hopefully it won't come to that. Just stay out of her way and you'll be fine while I'm gone."

They hugged and David moved out of the way, allowing Nathaniel to open the door and walk into the street. The sky was now pitch black with the moon smiling down at him. As he walked home, he picked up his phone and called the one person he wanted to talk to. The fear from Eleanor's threat wasn't because he was scared for his life; it was because he was scared for Silver's.

"Hey, are you okay?" Silver yawned,

"Are you at mine or the Institute?" Nathaniel asked,

"I'm at yours and thank you for getting me my favourite ice cream,"

"You need to go home,"

"What? Why?"

Nathaniel suddenly couldn't find the words to explain what was going on, mainly because he didn't know. For all he knew, Eleanor could've just shrugged what happened between them off, but his mind kept going to the thought of something bad happening, whether it was to him or Silver.

"Eleanor made a move on me and I think she knows about us and I just need you to be safe," he panted as he started to run home,

"Okay, but what about you?"

"It doesn't matter about me, if you're safe, I'm happy,"

"I love you," there was some sadness and worry in her voice,

"You know I love you more," Nathaniel stopped moving.

A couple of seconds after they hung up, Nathaniel had a text pop up from Silver saying 'things will be okay' and as he smiled to himself despite the knot of worry in his stomach, he started to walk home.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9- Passionate Love**

"So, which movie do you want to watch?" Magnus asked.

To get over their hangovers, Alec and Magnus decided to take a refreshing walk, stuff themselves at a Chinese buffet, drink a river of coffee and sit in bed. Alec had just come into their room after introducing himself to the James' that were staying at the Institute and then checking on Silver as he didn't expect her to be home until tomorrow.

"Not a horror movie again," Alec said as he closed the door and sat on the bed next to Magnus,

"The Lord of the Rings it is,"

"Cool, I've never watched that."

Magnus stared at Alec with a mixture of confusion, shock and horror. He didn't know not having watched The Lord of the Rings was such a big deal, he had heard of it, but he never really had the time to watch it. He took the DVD from a still frozen in shock Magnus and put it in the DVD player before sitting back down next to him and picking up the bowl of popcorn he had been resisting for an hour.

The sight of Gandalf reminded Alec of how old Magnus was- a topic that had constantly been on his mind for the last couple of days. He didn't know when to bring up the subject, but he knew he had to soon, or else he'd just drive himself crazy wondering whether Magnus should remain immortal or not. Throughout the first half an hour of the movie, he bit his bottom lip and fiddled with his top in silence, wondering when would be a good time, until finally, he grabbed the remote and paused the movie.

"One does not simply pause The Lord of the Rings," Magnus said in his version of a British accent,

"We need to talk," Alec put his popcorn down on the floor.

Magnus's jokey exterior suddenly vanished and he looked at Alec with serious eyes. Alec gulped and composed himself before opening his mouth, but not words coming out. How was he meant to begin? Was he meant to go straight into how he felt or ask the simple question of whether Magnus truly wanted to become mortal?

"You're immortal," was Alec's pathetic opener,

"Well done, Alexander," Magnus became confused,

"And I'm going to die."

Magnus exhaled heavily as he sensed where Alec was going with this, but instead of interrupting, he gestured for Alec to carry on.

"It's up to you whether you lose your immortality, but I want to make sure that you're not just basing the decision on your feelings for me. Your immortality is so valuable and is the reason why we're together now, if that went away, who knows what would happen with the amount of danger we put ourselves into. I feel like your immortality is you and I don't want you to lose a part of you that has made your life the way it is. And what about Max? He's a Warlock too and I'd much rather that he had one of us to stay with him forever rather than having to visit two graves. If you lose your immortality, I will feel like I've been selfish, but of course, it's your decision and I'll stay with you no matter what you decide."

Alec spoke so quickly, he had to drink a whole glass of water to get only half of his breath back. When he looked at Magnus, he saw a spark in his eyes and he reached out to grab Alec's hand. Alec's stomach began to do back flips during the short silence as he didn't know what Magnus was going to say and it was rare for him to be so silent.

"You are amazing," he began, "I wish that this was all so simple, that you were also immortal or that I was mortal, but I guess it's more fun this way. I love knowing that our time will end, because it makes me cherish every single second and want to do everything we can together before it's too late. Yes, it breaks my heart into millions of pieces knowing that I will have to watch you die and that's the main reason for me wanting to lose my immortality. But, you're right, I want to be there for Max when you leave and my immortality has made me the person that I am now. So maybe I won't lose my immortality, but Alexander, you will stay with me forever."

Alec could feel tears emerging in his eyes and he didn't bother to fight them back. He didn't know what he expected Magnus to say, but what he did say, was exactly what Alec wanted to hear. Magnus cupped Alec's cheek with his soft hand and gazed into his eyes. There was an energy between them that created butterflies in Alec's stomach and he could see that Magnus was feeling the same sensation. Their eyes were locked on each other as Magnus caressed Alec's cheek and Alec ran his fingers through his hair and down his back. They brushed their noses against each other and their hands started to roam. Soon, Alec's t-shirt was on the floor next to Magnus's and Alec was underneath him on the bed with their lips almost never parting. When Magnus drew back, he looked Alec passionately in the eyes before kissing his neck and nibbling his ear- something that made Alec go crazy. He bit his bottom lip and tried to kiss Magnus to stop him from getting Alec any more excited, but Magnus pulled his head back by his hair and carried on, biting his neck in the process. When he closed his eyes and put his fingers through Magnus's hair, Alec felt his mind go all fuzzy with the only clear thought being how deep in love he was. He felt Magnus's lips tenderly brush his chest and he gasped when Magnus glided his hand down his boxers. Goosebumps started to cover his skin and Magnus went back to kiss Alec's lips as he undid his belt. Alec could feel Magnus's heart pound as much as his when he ran his hand down his chest and gazed deeply into his eyes.

"Only you could do this to me," Alec whispered,

Alec wrapped his legs around Magnus, pulling him in closer and then kissing him before Magnus bit Alec's bottom lip, "then I won't stop."

Alec woke up naked with the sheet just about covering him, Magnus's hand on his chest and to see that the movie was still paused. They had slept for at least a good half an hour, which made sense after all the energy they had used up. The only pillow on the bed was underneath Magnus's head, one pillow had all its feathers that should've been inside of it on the floor and the whole room looked a mess. Alec giggled a little to himself as he scanned the room with clothes covering the floor, a pond of feathers and the sheets flung onto the dresser and the TV, before watching Magnus sleep. It was the only time when Magnus seemed peaceful and Alec got to infinitely watch him without Magnus eventually telling him to stop. Alec absorbed every feature of Magnus- his shimmering tanned skin, his handsome cheekbones and the way his lips were slightly parted when he slept- and questioned whether he truly deserved someone so perfect. When he gently stroked Magnus's cheek, his eyes flickered open, revealing his dazzling yellow-green cat eyes which made Alec grin.

"Have you been watching me?" Magnus spoke softly,

"Maybe," Alec replied as he moved his fingers from his cheek to his hair.

Magnus moved his face closer to him, their noses touching and lips so close to each other that Alec could feel Magnus's breath. They kissed softly and as Alec ran his fingers up and down Magnus's back, he heard the movie resume. He pulled away from Magnus, looked at him with bewilderment in his face and then looked at the remote Magnus's hand and his cheeky grin.

"Don't think you're getting out of watching The Lord of the Rings," Magnus sat up and pulled the sheet over them,

"Well then maybe we could go for round three when it's finished," Alec smirked as he searched for a still intact pillow to rest on,

"That's unlikely,"

"Why?"

Alec put the pillow behind him and sat up next to Magnus, wrapping his arm around his and holding his hand. He rubbed his eyes and attempted to recall what exactly had happened in the movie so far. Magnus raised his hand slightly and gracefully flicked his wrist, making the sheet on the TV fly to the floor.

"It's almost four hours long," Magnus chuckled before finding some popcorn in his hair and eating it.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10- Captured**

"Good morning," Alec yawned.

Magnus opened his eyes to discover Alec lying close to him with his hair in more of a mess than usual. He then turned his head to the left wall to see that it said 12:30.

"Good afternoon," he smiled while trying to get his voice back to normal.

He and Alec had sat through the Lord of the Rings without falling asleep, which was a first for Magnus, and once it had gotten to the credits, Alec had turned off the TV and went to sleep. At least he had finally watched it.

"Last night was…" Alec struggled to find the words,

"Hot, passionate and amazing," Magnus spoke the first words that came to him,

"Exactly."

Magnus ran his fingers down Alec's cheek before rolling onto his back and looking up at the ceiling with a smile. This was how he wanted to wake up every day, he wanted Alec to be the first thing he saw in the morning and the last thing he saw in the evening. No one had ever made his heart flutter as much as Alec did, no one had put as big a smile on his face as Alec did and he realized that the reason for that was simply because they weren't Alec. No one could compare to him. No one and nothing could make him stop loving him.

Silver was woken up in the morning by a knock on the door. She looked at her clock and saw it was one o'clock in the afternoon, but she had slept for longer. The knocking started to get louder and faster as she put her robe around her before making her way to the door.

"Yes?" Silver opened the door to see Stewart- the James' middle child.

He was immensely tall for a sixteen year old, Silver had to look up slightly when speaking to him, but he was easy to get along with, unlike his elder sister.

"We've made lunch," Stewart smiled,

"What have you made exactly?"

"Pesto pasta with salad,"

"I'll be down in like fifteen minutes."

Silver went to her wardrobe and took out the first things she could find which were grey tracksuit bottoms, a black t-shirt and a multi-coloured cardigan. She threw the clothes on the bed and turned to see Stewart still standing by the door.

"Was there something else?" she asked,

"I want to go see The Conjuring, but no one wants to go with me," Stewart looked down,

Despite the desperate attempt for sympathy that he made which made Silver like him less, she nodded, "I'll see it with you,"

"Cool! It starts at seven, so we should leave at around half an hour before," Stewart smiled and skipped down the hallway.

By the time Silver got to the kitchen, there was only Magnus and Alec sitting around the table, both of them showcasing sex-hair and loading pasta onto their plates. Silver sat opposite them and put her phone on the table.

"How was your night?" Silver asked as she scooped some pasta onto her plate,

"Plain," Magnus said with the straightest of faces,

"Liar. The walls were shaking because of you two and I had to put my headphone volume to the max,"

"We're not sorry," Magnus giggled like a school boy.

While easting, Silver kept checking her phone at least every three minutes and each time, she found that Nathaniel hadn't called or text her. This was worrying her. He'd usually message her to say good morning and after their last phone call, she was expecting a message telling her that everything was okay. Even her entertaining conversation with Alec and Magnus didn't sooth her mind and during training, she found that her aim was a little off as her mind was focussing on all the terrible things that could've happened to Nathaniel more than the target she needed to hit.

It eventually got to five o'clock and there was no word from Nathaniel. Silver lay on her bed, fiddling around with her stele when her phone buzzed.

"Finally!" she sighed as she read Nathaniel's text.

 _Come to my flat as soon as possible, I need you and I miss you_

 _No kisses,_ Silver thought before getting off of her bed, putting her shoes on and making her way to Nathaniel's flat. There was a smile on her face that just wouldn't budge as she got to Nathaniel's front door and found that it was already open. Something felt weird. First no kisses at the end of his message and then he leaves his door slightly open for her, which she knew he wouldn't even dare think about doing. But her mind had been spending so much time thinking about all the bad possibilities that it made sense that she was still doubting everything. She walked into the flat to see an empty living room and an empty kitchen. The windows were still boarded up, even though Nathaniel tended to take them down so he could admire the night sky from inside.

She called his name.

No answer.

She tried again and the only thing that replied was silence.

Slowly, she walked towards his open bedroom door, hoping that he may be in his room listening to music like he sometimes did. She gradually pushed the door. Nathaniel wasn't there. Eleanor Thana was. And she wasn't alone. She was accompanied by six male vampire slaves and they all had hatred in their eyes.

"Where's Nathaniel?" Silver began to walk backwards,

"He has been sent to help some young vampires, unfortunately, he left his phone," Eleanor showed her his phone before throwing it to the bed, "I know about you two and you're clouding his judgement. Thanks to you, he shows little loyalty to me and that is something that has to change."

Silver put her hands in her trouser pockets to feel two dagger handles as she backed into the living room. Eleanor looked at her like she was going to be her next meal and she was weak. Instead of going in for the kill herself, Eleanor clicked her fingers and the six vampires came rushing towards Silver.

She grabbed her daggers out of her pockets and pushed a button on the handles which triggered the blades to grow. She instantly stabbed the first vampire that came towards her through the chest and then began fending off the others. Some of them came prepared with their own daggers which made dispatching the vampires even harder. Her blades clashed with the daggers of two of the vampires, she kicked back at one vampire, sending him into the window and then quickly slashed one vampire's stomach. But, she wasn't paying enough attention. A vampire kicked her in the stomach and then kicked her daggers out of her hands. They then grabbed her arms, pinned them behind her back and started punching her. She just about had enough strength to kick one vampire where it seriously hurt and swing her foot in the head of another. However, the vampires were much stronger than her and they only stopped punching her when Eleanor strolled towards her.

"I wonder what Nathaniel would do to ensure your safety," she cracked her knuckles and chuckled, "and I can't wait to find out," she grinned before swinging her fist at Silver's face and knocking her out cold.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11- Taken**

Everyone in the Institute resided in the living room by the crackling fire. Magnus had forced them to play Monopoly on the deep red and gold patterned rug that ran through the middle of the room. Magnus, Alec, Jamal, Stewart, Grace and Dianna (Stewart and Grace's mother) were encased by the burgundy sofas that they leant against and the ajar windows let in not only a soothing moonlight but a biting crisp wind. Stewart was constantly looking at the door throughout the game which led to them stealing a little money from him now and again until they thought it was noticeable.

"What time is it?" Stewart asked in an innocent voice,

"It's coming up to eight o'clock. This game would be finished by now if you just gave me the last dark blue," Magnus complained,

"Silver was meant to meet me ages ago,"

"Maybe she didn't want to pretend to like you," Grace taunted,

"At least I didn't get pinned to the wall by her."

Grace looked down as she rolled the dice and Magnus saw worry invade Jamal's face.

"I'm sure she's just out with Nathaniel and has lost track of time," Magnus reassured him.

It didn't help. Jamal was still tense for the next fifteen minutes of the game, despite getting a load of money off of everyone and being able to build hotels. Magnus didn't have much sympathy for him, until he imagined what it would be like when Max was older and he disappeared without even notifying either Magnus or Alec. Even if he had just gone to a friend's house or came back two hours later, Magnus knew he would start to go frantic, because not knowing exactly where the person who care about is, what they're doing and if they're safe was the worst feeling he had experienced.

When it got to Magnus's turn, he felt his phone buzz in his trousers and despite having a no phone rule, he answered it.

"Magnus!" a familiar voice shouted down the phone,

"Are you surprised? I mean you did call me," Magnus replied as he rolled the dice,

"It's Nathaniel. Tell me Silver is with you," there was absolute desperation in his voice.

Magnus could hear the wind hitting the phone hard and fast and cars that passed by Nathaniel, passed by with unnatural speed. Something was wrong. He could feel it not only through Nathaniel's voice, but by the fact that he chose to call Magnus out of every choice he had. He didn't want to be the barer of bad news.

"No, she was meant to meet Stewart ages ago," Magnus stopped concentrating on the game.

"I need you all to meet me; I think she's been taken."

If vampires could cry, Magnus knew that he'd be hearing Nathaniel sobbing over the phone and would have to bring a bucket to collect his tears. The way he and Silver interacted and the fact that they seemed to be one of the most imperfect perfect couples was what urged Magnus to help him find Silver, along with the fact that he had taken a liking to her.

"We'll meet you outside the Institute as quickly as possible, just stay calm."

He hung up and looked at everyone. They could sense the seriousness of the situation from Magnus's voice and the worry on Jamal's face increased immensely. Jamal quickly got up and looked Magnus dead in the eye.

"What's happened to her?" Jamal asked,

"I'll leave Nathaniel to tell you that," Magnus looked at him,

"Attic, now. Be at the front of the Institute in ten minutes," Jamal ordered the Shadowhunters without looking at them and while walking out of the room.

Alec kissed Magnus's cheek before following Jamal along with everybody else, leaving Magnus to go to his room and find something to wear that he didn't mind getting dirty. He was willing to fight for a girl he barely knew and a part of him realized that one of the reasons why was because Alec was willing to. If Alec told him not to fight and just be there to help heal people, he would listen to him and if Alec told him to fight by his side even if it meant that they'd die, he'd listen to him. He wasn't going to most likely fight vampires to help find Silver, he was going to fight them to make sure that Alec stayed alive. He eventually picked a black turtleneck and black trousers to wear, before going to the outside of the Institute where Nathaniel stood. He was biting his nails, his hair was a mess and he was staring at his phone. Alec, Jamal and the James' walked behind Magnus, all of them in their Shadowhunter gear and the tip of seraph blades gleaming like a beam of hope in the dark.

"I'm so sorry. I tried my best to protect her I swear, I told her not to come to my flat, but she was tricked and now she's missing and it's all my fault," Nathaniel spoke without taking a breath,

"It's not your fault," Jamal said calmly as he put his hand on Nathaniel's shoulder, "we'll find her."

As Nathaniel looked at the soldiers that stood in front of him, his phone started to ring.

"Give her back!" he demanded once he answered and put the phone on loud speaker,

"Why should I? Why does a Shadowhunter mean so much to you?" a sinister voice spoke,

"You know why, Eleanor. She's done nothing to us,"

"She put up quite a fight by the way, I'm sure her father would be proud of his deceased daughter."

There was a silence as pain filled both Jamal's and Nathaniel's faces.

"Well," Eleanor broke the silence, "soon to be deceased. You can try saving her, but remember, I always win."

She hung up and Magnus could see the anger surging through Nathaniel to the point where his veins were pooping out of his neck and arms.

"She'd be at the lair," Nathaniel's voice wobbled,

"I can provide the transport," Magnus waved his hand slightly as blue sparks swirled around it.

Jamal nodded and Magnus created a portal against the fence of the Institute. Before the portal was even created, Nathaniel had pushed in front of Magnus and stood in front of it. The brisk air coming from the portal mixed with the biting cold of the gloomy night breeze made the hairs all over Magnus's body stand on end and made him want to run back inside and watch more movies in bed. Nathaniel went in first, followed by everyone else and leaving Alec and Magnus last.

"You do understand why I am doing this?" Alec said as he stepped up to the portal,

"It's your job," Magnus looked at him,

"It's who I am,"

"To me, you're not a Shadowhunter, you're Alexander Lightwood and you're amazing."

Magnus ran his fingers down Alec's palm before they both stepped through the portal.

The portal lead them to the back door of the lair where Nathaniel saw a massive group of vampires. He realized that there was at least a third of the vampire clan standing outside the lair as if waiting for orders. When Nathaniel approached them, not even checking to see if everyone had gotten through the portal, the vampires turned simultaneously.

"She's gone way too far," said one of the vampires towards the back,

"Anyone that wouldn't stand by Eleanor was either sent out or killed," David stated as he moved to the front of the crowd, "we've had enough,"

"Right now, I just want to get Silver out of there," Nathaniel was becoming agitated,

"The Shadowhunter girl? I saw Eleanor carrying her down to the storage room,"

"Show me where she is," Jamal demanded as he stepped in front of Nathaniel.

No vampire took lightly to being told what to do by a Shadowhunter, especially one that had threatened their clan many times. But as Jamal was with Nathaniel, the vampires obliged and parted to create a path to the back door and David opened it.

"Jamal and I will go get Silver, you guys cover us," Nathaniel instructed when he turned to Alec, "trust David to guide you through the warehouse and get you out once we get Silver."

Alec simply nodded like a soldier would and they walked in a line into the warehouse. When Nathaniel looked back, he saw not only Alec, Magnus and the James' behind him, but also the rest of the vampire clan. He didn't think he was leader material, all he really wanted was to have the easiest and most relaxed immortal life as possible and he couldn't care less about having regular meetings with Shadowhunters. As they made their way to the stairs that led to the storage room, Nathaniel smelt something. Something tasty. Something that made his fangs grow. Blood was splattered on the floor and created a trail that went down the steps, but Nathaniel recognised the scent. It was Silver's blood.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12- Torture**

Silver was sitting in a field of tall grass and sunflowers that towered over her. She could hear a distant stream of water rolling over rocks and pebbles, birds chirping happily in the trees that outlined the field and the rustling of leaves in the pleasantly cool wind. The sun was beating down on her with its heat hugging her and she watched squirrels run around in the grass maze. She wore a long skirt that matched the blue of the summer sky, a white tank top was tucked into it and her flower patterned kimono danced in the wind. This was near perfection.

"You're here alone?" Nathaniel asked as he held a sunflower in front of her.

Where he stood made it look as if the sun was his halo. She took the sunflower from him and he sat behind her and pulled her into him so her head was resting on his chest. Through his white t-shirt, she heard a heartbeat and soon she could feel its beating rhythm match hers. She ran her fingers along his arms to see that they were a beautiful tanned colour rather than pale and his fingers were warm as they stroked her cheek and held her hand. Now this was perfection.

Silver closed her eyes and she breathed in the smell of the flowers, grass and fresh water and once she opened them, she could suddenly hear the laughter of children. She looked up at Nathaniel to see he had grown slightly older and found the stream to be by her bare feet. Her reflection revealed that it wasn't only Nathaniel that had grown older and that her belly had grown.

"Daddy, catch!" shouted a little girl that emerged from the grass on the other side of the stream.

An adorable young girl with brown hair tied into pigtails and in a yellow summer dress threw a ball at Nathaniel and he caught it before telling her to come over to them. She jumped over the stream and cuddled Silver.

"I love you mummy," she smiled as she closed her eyes,

"I love you too," Silver kissed the child's head before kissing Nathaniel.

When she opened her eyes from the kiss, the child was gone and Nathaniel now had grey hair and winkles, but still looked handsome. Silver could still hear the laughing of children, but she guessed that they weren't hers. A woman that looked similar to Nathaniel walked across the stream holding a baby and with two children running behind her.

"Why don't you hold your grandson, mum?" the woman passed the baby to Silver.

His eyes were a beautiful hazel and glittered in the sunlight and he held Silver's finger as she stroked his nose. Nathaniel began to make funny noises behind her which the baby laughed at and began to clap.

This was what happiness was. This was what Silver had always wanted and she finally had it. But soon everything started to fade. The light of the sun dimmed, the sound of the leaves and the water had dialled down, the laughter of the children faded and the feeling of Nathaniel's arms around her was suddenly gone. She was waking up.

It was freezing. Silver felt a dampness around her and cold stone underneath her. If she strained her hearing, she could hear the whispers of at least four people on her left, but she wasn't sure about how far away from her they were. She could feel something sticky over her mouth, _most likely tape,_ she told herself. When she summoned the energy, she slowly opened her eyes. She was lying on a stone table with her wrists chained in the top corners, her feet chained in the bottom corners and chains around her neck. Her trousers had been taken off, leaving her just in her black t-shirt and her cardigan and allowing the cold to attack her even more. There were candles on the floor as well as knives and rope. Panic started to overcome her and Silver began to pull on the chains and scream despite the tape that made it sound like she was just humming loudly to herself. As she carried on, the sound of high heels grew louder as well as the patters of more feet following. Suddenly, the tape was ripped off of her mouth and it stung more than multiple wasps stinging her. Eleanor was standing over her with the biggest smile Silver had ever seen on her face.

"I've been waiting for this for a while," Eleanor grinned, she then clicked and her minions brought in a flannel and a massive tub of water,

"I don't understand why you're doing this. What have I ever done to you?" Silver kept trying to free herself and constantly failed,

"My friends and family were killed in cold blood by your people, by you Nephilim who think you're so superior. I may not be able to kill as many of you as I want, but you'll be a good start. Also, you and your father piss me off."

Eleanor stroked Silver's hair as if she was a caring mother, but the only thing she did care about was making her heart stop beating. Silver had never been so afraid. Was this how her mother and sister's felt when they died? Alone, cold, sad, terrified? All this because of something she didn't do. The flannel was placed over her face and even though she fought back with as much strength as possible, the two vampires holding the flannel down were much stronger.

"Mundanes say that this is one of the worst ways to torture someone and I feel like testing that hypothesis," Eleanor sang as she lifted the tub of water and poured it over Silver's face.

Drowning. That's what it felt like. The flannel over her face made it too hard to even attempt to breathe and the agonizingly cold water went into her mouth and down her throat without her even swallowing. It began to give her a headache as it carried on for at least thirty seconds and thankfully, Eleanor stopped pouring the water and the flannel was lifted. But it wasn't over. Eleanor swiftly jumped onto the stone table and lifted up her leg to show clearly her extremely high heel boot that looked like it could stab through flesh. With an immense amount of force, she slammed her foot down onto Silver's stomach. The water in Silver's body came like a tidal wave out of her mouth and choking on it only made the pain she was feeling worse. She was surprised that she wasn't bleeding as she could feel her body spasm slightly from the throbbing racing through it. Tears began to run down her face. She wasn't trained to be able to cope with this.

"Did that hurt?" Eleanor enquired spitefully as Silver gasped for air.

She tapped her foot on the stone and the flannel was put over Silver's face again.

Despite going through it five times with barely enough time to inhale any oxygen, the agony increased every time and Silver's will to carry on through it was decreasing. _How could anyone go through such torment and not feel like giving up slightly?_ in her head, she tried to justify her growing want to give up. It went from the feeling of drowning to the feeling of a freezing steel blade slicing her skin open on her legs. She screamed with every cut and the screams soon turned into whimpers once she lost her voice. She couldn't cry anymore, she could barely see or think clearly anymore. Why couldn't death come sooner?

"Would you like a glass of water for your throat?" Eleanor cackled as she began her work on the other leg, "I am so very tempted to have a taste, but once your completely drained, then I shall have my banquet,"

"Please, stop, I'm begging you," getting the words out as she cried was painful for Silver,

Eleanor slashed Silver's calf, "begging won't help you."

Silver began feeling so lightheaded that she could barely keep her head still, when she heard something. A voice. A French accent. She turned her head to the windows of the storage room that revealed many feet and the recognisable red shoes with an N on that she had bought Nathaniel a year ago. She tried to shout, but the tape was put back onto her mouth and as her body gave up and her eyes closed, she heard Eleanor give orders, "Kill him!"


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13- Lost and Found**

 _She's going to be fine, she's alive, she's going to be fine,_ Nathaniel repeated to himself with every step he took down to the storage room. Now and again, he'd turn around in a state of surprise as he kept forgetting that Jamal was following him; his mind was completely focussed on Silver. His fangs stabbed his bottom lip when he heard the faint sound of feet. He opened his hand and Jamal placed a dagger in it, knowing what was about to happen.

"Is she alive?" Nathaniel asked as they got to the bottom of the stairs.

On the grey walls, he could see the shadows of four of Eleanor's much bigger minions.

"When we left her, she had passed out," one snarled,

"Hopefully she won't wake up, because I'm starving," another added.

When Nathaniel turned left, he was pushed by the biggest of the minions, Damian. Nathaniel kicked him in the stomach and Jamal rushed in front of him with his Seraph blade and sword and swiped them at two of the vampires.

"You know what our orders are," said Ella, the most blood thirsty of the minions.

Nathaniel didn't waste any breath on replying. Ella stood in front of him and Damian behind him- not the place he wanted to be. He swung a punch at Ella and kicked Damian in his shin, hoping that would weaken him for a while. Ella kneed Nathaniel in the stomach with brute force, which made him feel like throwing up and before she could get another turn to ruin his insides, he slashed the dagger across her thigh. As she limped backwards with blood pouring out of her leg, Damian grabbed Nathaniel's hair, turned him around and slammed his fist into his face. There was a slight sting at first, but then Damian swung another two punches at him, which started to make his face numb with pain. Nathaniel felt a rhythm to his punches and before another could be thrown, he grabbed Damian's fist just before it made contact with his face, twisted his arm until he heard a massive crack and slit his throat with the dagger before kicking him into the wall. He could hear Ella behind him, whining over her leg.

"I'll tell Eleanor that you failed," Nathaniel spat at her before smashing her head against the wall.

Nathaniel wasn't used to being so violent- violence wasn't his thing- but just thinking about the disgusting terrible things Silver might have been going through created anger that he had to get out. As he breathed heavily, he turned to see Jamal waiting for him with the bodies of two dead vampires at his feet, like a true Shadowhunter.

"You fight well," Jamal commented,

"Thank you, I guess," Nathaniel replied as he started to walk through the storage room to where he guessed Silver was being kept.

He didn't know what to expect as they carried on walking. He strained his ears, hoping to hear Silver calling his name or at least her breathing heavily, but he could only hear his and Jamal's footsteps. _Where the fuck is she?_ Nathaniel started to scream in his head. He was becoming so frustrated that he began to slam his fist into the wall as he walked and as his rage slowly began to take over him, he saw flickers of light.

"Silver!" Jamal exclaimed.

She was just lying there- confined to a stone table, blood covering her legs and her hair thin and lifeless. Nathaniel could just about see her chest rise and fall slightly and he feared that soon he wouldn't be able to. He had been trained how to stop the urge to cry, so Jamal couldn't see how shattered he was and how much pain he felt at the sight of Silver at that moment. They cautiously approached Silver and the agony in her pale face screamed at them. Nathaniel stroked her hair and kissed her head.

"Wake up, sweetie," Jamal whispered as he held her hand.

Suddenly, Nathaniel felt a sharp pain hit his back and then his feet swept from under him, leaving him on the floor, looking up at Eleanor. Before she could move to attack Jamal, he had slashed her stomach with his sword and as he helped Nathaniel up, she fled. Nathaniel was hoping that she'd die as she tried to get help from one of her minions, but Eleanor would never give up that easily.

Jamal cut off the chains around Silver with his sword and stripped off the tape on her mouth while Nathaniel shook her, pleading, begging, yearning for her to wake up. She felt so cold and limp in his hands as if death was creeping its way ever so closer towards her and even after Jamal had drawn an _iratze_ on her, Nathaniel could sense her slipping through his fingers. This couldn't be how he was going to say goodbye to her. It was too son. She had promised to never leave him, she had never broken a promise and now wasn't the time to change that.

"I'll do anything, just wake up," Nathaniel prayed, "We're meant to go to Paris remember? We're meant to check if our lock is still on the bridge and see if we can get married in the park where we first met. We're meant to travel the world together and climb mountains. I can't climb mountains without you; I can't do anything I've planned without you. I might as well starve myself of blood, strap myself to a wall of religious symbols until my skin burns off and jump into the sunlight. I need you. I love you. So, just wake up please."

Nathaniel caressed her cheek before poking her nose and cheeks like he always when they cuddled. It was when he held, that he felt her fingers twitch and heard a slight groan and after a couple of second, Sliver's eyes opened.

Jamal had never been so relieved to see his daughter wake up. She started breathing heavily and frantically looking around the room with fear in her eyes, ignoring the fact that he and Nathaniel were there with her. But soon enough, she calmed down as he eyes set on Nathaniel. She threw her arms around him with as much energy as she could summon and Jamal saw for the first time that what Nathaniel and Silver had was real. He had spent the entirety of their relationship thinking that it was something that Silver would grow out of and she would come to her senses and leave him, but that was clearly not the case. The way Nathaniel had fought for her and begged her to wake up and the way he had never seen Silver so happy when Nathaniel was holding her, made Jamal see the exact kind of love that he had for his wife. Silver turned to Jamal slowly and fell into his arms, knowing that he would catch her.

"Trust you to sleep for so long and not wake up when I tell you to," Jamal joked as he fought back the tears in his eyes,

"I was tired," Silver said weakly,

"We've got to get her out of here," Nathaniel insisted.

Jamal nodded, but couldn't help but hold Silver for a little longer and be thankful that he wasn't losing his last daughter. Losing his wife and daughters was painful, but losing Silver would kill him; she was all he had left and reminded him of all that he had lost, which was more than a comfort to him. He and Silver had never hugged for so long before and he could feel Silver's arms tighten around him as the hug got longer.

"You carry her and I'll cover you," Jamal commanded as he reluctantly let go of Silver,

"Let's hurry," Nathaniel said as he scooped Silver up into his arms.

Jamal watched Silver put her arms around Nathaniel's neck and bury her head into him. He was used to seeing her push guys away from her when they offered to help her, but now, he was watching his fragile daughter at her weakest moment, making his heart break inside. They began to walk out of the storage room and the closer they got to the stairs, the louder the sound of cries of pain and fighting became. To get Silver through a crowd of vampires fighting each other when she could barely keep her eyes open was going to be the most difficult mission Jamal had ever been assigned to, but he knew he could do it. When he put his foot on the first step, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see Silver standing next to Nathaniel, but slightly leaning on him with her hand held out.

"Sword please," she said with determination in her voice that was slowly growing stronger.

Jamal smiled with pride at her as he gave her the sword and they began to walk up the stairs.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14- Revenge**

"Magnus, you stand by the stairs and cover them when they come back up, everyone else spread out evenly around the warehouse," Alec began giving orders,

"Why should we listen to him?" moaned Grace.

Magnus hadn't taken a liking to any of the James' apart from Stewart. Grace would complain like a squeaky rat, as she obviously thought she was one of the best Shadowhunters; little did she know that she was in the presence of who Magnus knew was one of the bravest and most brilliant Shadowhunters ever.

"Because, he's a Lightwood who has literally been to hell and back; I wouldn't mess with him," Magnus said and he saw Alec smirk in the corner of his eye,

"Come on Grace," Grace's father commanded and they went deeper into the warehouse.

It was strangely quiet. Vampires were known for being good at sneaking up on people, but even then, you'd be able to hear them sniggering. Magnus stood with Alec and at least fifteen vampires in a large room with damp boxes that were falling apart in the corners, splatters of fresh and dry blood as well as old stains covered the floor and the walls had been painted black. The windows were smashed and boarded up on the outside or they were boarded up on the inside, either way, the only light came from four hanging lights bulbs that ran down the middle of the dark ceiling. Alec slid his arrow into position on his bow and scanned the room, before looking at Magnus in the eyes with a question in his face. Magnus nodded, knowing what he was asking and stretched out his hand to sense where the vampires were in the warehouse.

"Don't worry," Magnus whispered, "they're swiftly on their way," he pointed to an old dark brown door that was towards the back of the room.

Alec stood with his arrow pointed at the door. Magnus couldn't help but take a moment to take in how handsome and irresistible Alec looked in such a manly position where he could see the muscles in his arms clearly and his tightened jawline that made him slightly melt. When he bit his lip, the door creaked open. Magnus waited for vampires with fangs of blood to jump out at them like in a scary movie, but instead, a load of vampires came piling through the door, all of them snarling. The first vampire quickly had an arrow in his head and fell to the floor like a rock.

"Why can't you all just be nice?" Magnus complained as blue sparks began to surround his hands.

Any vampire that came towards Magnus was instantly encircled by blue sparks before turning into ash or falling unconscious (or possibly dead) on the floor. Even though his priority was to protect the staircase, Magnus couldn't help but search the crowd for Alec and make sure he was okay. Obviously, he was more than fine. He moved gracefully, switching from using his bow and arrow to his seraph blade effortlessly and dispatching vampires with such ease. Watching the vampires was confusing as he would constantly forget which vampires were on the same side as him and would end up rooting for the wrong ones.

As Magnus turned another two vampires into dust, he was shoved forwards. Eleanor ran in front of him, holding her stomach and blood covering her hand. She was moving slow for a vampire, but she was still fast which made focussing on her hard as Magnus began to spin freezing sparks around his hand. He was about to throw the spell at her, when he was pounced on by a vampire, knocking him onto the floor with a frenzied vampire snarling in his face.

"You should invest in mouthwash," Magnus said as he punched the vampire in the face and then used his magic to push the vampire into the ceiling.

Before he could begin to think about getting up, Alec was standing over him with his hand held out. Magnus could imagine a halo spinning around his perfect boyfriend's head and wings spreading from his back as he took his hand and was pulled up on his feet. They looked into each other's eyes for a brief moment, before Alec quickly span away and was lost in the fighting mass again. Magnus scanned the room for Eleanor, but she had completely vanished and he soon became distracted by the sound of arguing coming from the stairs.

"I can use a sword with or without your permission," Silver complained,

"You are still weak, I don't want you tiring yourself out," Nathaniel replied,

"Stop being such a grandma."

Magnus turned to see Silver holding a sword and despite how pale she was, she was standing up straight in between Nathaniel and Jamal. She didn't look as strong as a Shadowhunter should; her hands were slightly shaking, she looked like she could happily sleep for centuries and there were faint marks of deep cuts on her bare legs. There were fresh runes on her skin which only highlighted how pale she had become, but made her look ready to fight at the same time.

"Shall we get you out of here?" Magnus smiled.

Silver looked at Magnus for a second as if trying to digest what he had said, "Sure, I can miss one fight."

Magnus stretched out his arms in the direction of the exit and when he parted them, vampires were pushed out of the way to create a clear path to walk down. He took a step forward and turned to see if Silver was following. She was at first. But then vampires began to hurry towards her. Jamal and Nathaniel were pulled into the crowd as they fought, leaving Silver to fight for herself unless Magnus closed the path. It was obvious she was too weak to fight more than a couple of vampires and she would need Magnus's help, even if it meant not having a clear path to get out of the warehouse. Magnus dropped his hands and stood with his back against Silver's as vampires came towards them. As he flung vampires against the walls and ceiling, he would turn occasionally to check up on Silver. Although her strength must have been fading, she fought vigorously and had bodies at her feet with the first five swipes of her sword.

Silver didn't know where her energy was coming from; she could only put it down to all the runes she had drawn on her. She liked the feeling of having Magnus behind her as it made her feel protected and now and again she'd lean her back onto his to get her breath back. She could see Nathaniel in the corner of her eye and her father in the other and the number of vampires who were on the opposing side was decreasing. The more she fought, the weaker she got to the point where she wasn't sure if she could hold the sword anymore. Eleanor had drained her of so much blood and even the runes couldn't restore all of the energy she had lost. She began to stumble forward and her vision became blurry.

"You Shadowhunters don't know when to call it a day," she heard Magnus tut as she was lifted and rushed out of the warehouse.

The crisp air almost stung when it hit her legs, but it was mainly a blessing and when she opened her eyes, she could see the jewel speckled sky and smiled at the thought of finally being safe.

"You can put me down," she said softly.

Magnus put her on the ground delicately and they were soon joined by Nathaniel, Jamal and Alec. Her father had only one scratch on his face which didn't even need a plaster- the complete opposite of the state that Silver was in. Alec's hair was a mess and he was breathing heavily, but he too looked as if he had just gone for a run instead of fighting a load of vampires. Nathaniel, on the other hand, had a gash on his arm and a bruise was forming on his cheek, but he still looked perfect. In silence, she looked from her father to Nathaniel- the two men who bravely fought to save her and the most important people in her life. This was the one time they had been around each other without in some way insulting each other. As Magnus hugged Alec, she saw the look in Nathaniel's eyes which meant he was preparing himself for her to run into him.

"How about we go home?" Jamal smiled.

Silver took a single step towards them. A blur darted from the door of the warehouse to behind Silver and before she could turn her head, she was being held tightly by Eleanor with a dagger being held up to her throat. Silver dropped her sword on the floor.

"I don't think she'll be coming home with you," Eleanor snarled, "take one step forward and she'll just die quicker."

Silver looked into Nathaniel's eyes and shook her head, knowing that he was about to run towards her. She had been in this position before, but she had had a weapon in her hand and it wasn't a blood thirsty maniac of a vampire holding her. It was better than being tortured, but at least if she was still in the storage room, her father and boyfriend wouldn't have to witness her death. She wasn't as scared as she expected to be, instead she began to accept that this was going to be her last day alive and started to take in the features of Nathaniel's face.

"You don't have to do this, Eleanor," Nathaniel attempted to reason with her,

"You Shadowhunters kill vampires like we're a disease. I have no one that I love left to hug or kiss and now I have the chance to make you feel exactly how I feel," there was pure anger and hatred in Eleanor's voice.

As Eleanor talked, Silver noticed a dagger in Alec's pocket. She waved at him subtly and after a few attempts, she got his attention and pointed at the dagger. He started patting down his trousers until he realized that it was the dagger that she wanted. Once he took it out of his pocket, he already knew what Silver wanted him to do. She held her hand out, telling him to wait as she prepared herself. Her heart was beating so hard and it was a struggle to breathe and think clearly.

"If I cannot get revenge on all of you disgusting Nephilim, I can get revenge on at least one of you," Eleanor spat the words at Jamal, "but I won't be using this," Eleanor waved her dagger in the air.

Silver gave Alec the thumbs up and he threw the dagger at her. Once she caught it, she felt a searing pain her neck. She attempted to ignore it as she kicked back at Eleanor, turned around and plunged the dagger into her chest, before picked up her sword and freeing Eleanor's head from her shoulders. She dropped the sword as she put her hand to her bleeding neck. Eleanor's lips had blood covering them and Silver began to feel her blood boil. She had been bitten.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15- Turning**

Everyone stared at Silver in silence as her she touched the bit on her neck and then looked at her hand. Shadowhunters couldn't become vampires. It couldn't be possible. But the burning in her blood and the tingles all over her body reminded her that anything was possible. Her eyesight started to become blurry and she stumbled over to her father. He had to have a solution. She had spent her whole life a Shadowhunter, they were preparing to go to Idris soon; she couldn't just throw that part of her life away.

"You know what has to happen," Nathaniel's voice trembled as he spoke.

Jamal nodded in response and Silver looked at Nathaniel knowing exactly what he meant.

"I can't do it, I won't do it," Jamal began to weep and looked away from Silver.

Her mouth was becoming dry, her breathing was getting heavier, the runes on her skin were beginning to itch and she began to shake. She looked at Magnus, Alec, Nathaniel and then her father who could barely look at what was happening to his daughter. Tears that slightly burned her eyes started to roll down her cheeks as she looked deep into Nathaniel's eyes.

"I'm sorry," Nathaniel whispered as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her softly.

The sensation of his lips made Silver forget the change that was taking place. Before their lips could part, Silver heard Nathaniel draw a dagger from his belt and became almost relieved when she felt it sink into her stomach. After drawing back the dagger and dropping it on the ground, he slowly helped Silver lie on the ground as she took her last living breaths. If anything, this was how she wanted to die. The twinkling stars against the midnight velvet sky made her feel so tranquil and the warm feeling of being held in Nathaniel's arms was the last feeling she wanted to remember. Jamal knelt by her and stroked her hair and she closed her eyes and smiled. There was no need for her to say goodbye to anyone. The last thing she heard was her father crying and Nathaniel whispering the words, "I'll see you soon."

They buried her in the woods on the outside of London, Nathaniel had made her a picnic there once and they had stuck a small dagger in one of the trees there so they could easily find their spot. He had made sure to bring bags of blood that they kept in the lair for these occasions as well as a blanket to cover Silver in just in case the Sun rose before they could get back. _This isn't fair_ Nathaniel kept telling himself as they put the last of the soil over her. He had helped many go through the process of becoming a vampire, it was his main job in the clan, but he never imagined that he'd have to be helping Silver, a Shadowhunter, his girlfriend. He, Alec and Jamal patted down the soil and then took a few steps back. The moon was still shining in the sky, watching them as they waiting for Silver to emerge.

"How long does this usually take?" Magnus asked as he sat up against a tree,

"Some take minutes, others take hours, but they all emerge before the Sun rises," Nathaniel explained as he walked towards a tree with a dagger in it.

He ran his fingers along the handle.

"Why are you all treating this like a funeral? Be happy that she's not truly dead," Alec stood by Magnus, "Jamal, you'll still have your daughter and Nathaniel, you'll be able to spend forever with her. I would give anything to be able to spend forever with Magnus, so see this as some sort of blessing,"

"He has a point. Also, she'll be half angel, half demon I guess, a bit like my friend Tessa but with a love for her steak raw and without the magic of course," Magnus's humour was somewhat needed.

Nathaniel's only wish was that he could spend the rest of his existence with Silver, but he didn't want it to be this way. It wasn't just the transformation that was horrible, but the life of having to prey on innocent humans and not being able to watch the sunrise or even have a beautiful family, he wanted to spare Silver from that. The true reason why Jamal never approved of them being together was because he feared that this would happen and Nathaniel could see it in his face.

After at least an hour, Nathaniel felt something coming from where Silver was buried. He grabbed two of the bags of blood and threw another two at Alec as they both moved slowly either side of where Silver was soon to emerge. The movement underneath his feet grew and soon the soil at the surface was started to cave in. Silver crept out with her hazel eyes piercing instead of soft and her head turning sharply from Alec to Nathaniel. In the corner of his eye, Nathaniel saw Jamal try to approach Silver, but Magnus stopped him, "I think it's better if we stay back," he whispered.

Silver pounced on Nathaniel with immense strength, pinning him down to the floor, snarled as she took the blood from him hands and scuttled over to a tree before drinking out of the bag. Nathaniel hated the sight of her with blood all around her face, dripping down from her chin and her licking every last drop she possibly could. Once she had finished with the bag, she grunted for the next and Nathaniel threw it at her.

"You don't have to watch this," Nathaniel looked at the horror in Jamal's face,

"It's my daughter; I think I do," he said as he sat down against a tree,

"After this, I'll take her back to mine and you can see her tomorrow, you know, when she's not like this."

Jamal simply nodded as he stared at his daughter begging for more blood. Some of her runes had gone and others were still fading away, making Nathaniel question why they weren't hurting her in any way. As Alec gave her another bag of blood, she stopped and looked at him with less hunger in her eyes and a look of confusion. She then started looking at all of them and mouthing their names. It was at that point that Nathaniel moved closer towards her, took off his top and used it to wipe the blood off of her. As he wiped the last of the blood on her cheek, she grinned like she used to.

"How are you feeling?" Nathaniel asked softly,

"Sleepy," she said as she got to her feet.

Before she could even steady herself, Jamal ran to her and hugged her, wrapping his arms around her as if trying to protect her. Tears fell from his eyes and it was obvious on Silver's face that she was forcing herself not to cry, knowing that it would be blood that would come from her eyes. This was the exact reaction of Nathaniel's parents when he admitted to them what had happened to him and he was glad that it was the reaction Silver was getting and not abandonment which so many vampires had faced.

"We don't have much time for the hugs," Magnus coughed as he picked up the shovel and pointed to the sky with it.

The Sun was beginning to peek up above the horizon. Nathaniel knew the pain of a sunbeam touching a vampire's skin; it was excruciating and the worst thing he had ever felt.

"You be good okay, I don't want to have to use a seraph blade on you," Jamal looked Silver in the eyes,

"I'll be the best a vampire can be," Silver promised,

"Which isn't even that good," Magnus joked before yawning.

Silver kissed Jamal's cheek before walking over to Nathaniel and being held by him. Her skin was cold and he could feel no pulse when he touched her wrist. It was hard to believe that she was a vampire, even with all the proof, there was still something angelic about her and it wasn't just the rune that was still marked on her chest. He scooped her up in his arms and looked deep into her eyes. She was still the same on the inside. That's what mattered.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16- Being a Parent**

On the way back to the Institute, there was an awkward silence that made Magnus very uncomfortable and Magnus's stomach deciding to rumble and gurgle made it just that bit worse. The sun was peeking up from the horizon when they got back.

"Thank you for your service," Jamal said in one note to Alec and Magnus,

"It's my job," Alec said, "but you're welcome,"

"Don't beat yourself up about what happened," Magnus smiled weakly before he and Alec walked to their room.

Magnus had never been so thankful to lie on a bed before, he was starting realise how underrated beds were and the true importance of breakfast. He was stuck between going to the kitchen or going out to a café for food and sleeping. His stomach was craving eggs benedict with crispy bacon and tomatoes and then maybe waffles with chocolate sauce afterwards and fresh orange juice to wash it all down, but his body was yearning for a soft pillow and the warmth of a duvet.

"What do you think? Food or sleep?" he asked Alec as he sat on the bed,

"First, I need to call mum and see how Max is," Alec insisted.

With everything that had been going on, Magnus and Alec had only been able to check on Max twice, which was way less than Alec had planned. If it were up to Alec, he would call whenever Max was having a meal to make sure he was eating his greens, the moment he woke up and the moment he went to sleep. Alec sat next to Magnus on the bed and video called Maryse.

"Hello dear," Maryse smiled.

Magnus could see the headboard of her bed, but she was still dressed in her normal clothes. He didn't know what time it was over there and he was too tired to work it out, he just hoped that Max wasn't already in bed.

"You look exhausted. Jamal just told me what happened, I'm very proud of you for being there, who knows what would've happened if Eleanor wasn't stopped," while she spoke there was a familiar giggling in the background,

"I thought London vampires would be at least nicer than the ones back home," Alec joked,

"When are you coming home?" Max popped up in front of Maryse.

At the sight of him, Alec's face lit up and he started to laugh, "We'll be back in two days; we still have more to see,"

"Are you gonna bring me back anything?" Max giggled as he placed himself in Maryse's lap,

"You're just as bad as Magnus," Alec laughed,

"Of course he is," Magnus moved closer to Alec to get his face in the picture better, "Don't worry, little man, we'll get you something,"

"I'm not little!" Max complained,

"Yes you are. It's your horns that make you slightly taller."

Magnus felt Alec hold his hand as he talked to Max. As a family, Alec, Magnus and Max had done things like going to the park, attempting to make pizza from scratch, going to the movies, everything that a normal family would do. They had never been parted from Max for this long and it was showing in Alec's face how much he missed him. Even when Max began to talk about nonsense as usual, Alec looked at him as if he was reciting the most heart-warming poem. When Magnus met Alec, he had seen them having a future together, but he had never seen them having a family.

"By the way, you owe aunt Izzy new shoes," Max looked down with guilt,

"What did you do?" Alec's voice went into strict dad mode,

"Well, aunt Tessa was showing me some really cool tricks yesterday and I wanted to do them…" Max started,

"I know where this is going," Magnus sighed,

"…and they started to float, but then I heard an ice cream truck and they dropped into my paint pot," Max attempted to make an innocent face,

"Well, at least you learned how to make things float," Magnus laughed,

"I don't think that was the main point of the story, Magnus," Alec said,

"But it's the best point of the story," Max said.

Alec succumbed to the cuteness of Max and laughed along with Magnus. Max looked back at Maryse who rolled her eyes at how easy it was to win Alec over and chuckled with them.

"You two must be tired, get some sleep," Maryse suggested,

"Remember my present though, please," Max insisted,

"We'll try," Alec smiled as he waved,

"Come back quickly; I miss you," Max said as he got a bit too close to the phone,

"Miss you too, buddy," Magnus laughed.

The call ended. Alec put the phone on the bed and didn't let go of Magnus's hand. He was looking down at the floor almost motionless as if he was taking a moment to understand something very complex.

"That's the first time he's said that to us," Alec's voice was soft as he spoke,

"Yeah it is," Magnus smiled as he ran his fingers through Alec's hair,

Alec lifted his head and looked at Magnus, "Do you think he'll start calling us dad soon?"

"I don't know, he may be a bit confused as to whether to call both of us dad," Magnus yawned.

As he got up and changed into a pair of silk boxers, Alec remained sitting on the bed with a confused look on his face. Magnus loved the face Alec pulled when he tried to work things out; it was so adorable and one of his eyebrows would always rise up. It was when Magnus got into bed that Alec got up- probably because of Magnus kicking him from under the covers- and started to get changed.

"Well, which one of us would he call dad first?" Alec asked as he took his top off,

"You can't ask a question like that and then distract me with that, my brain can't focus on both tasks," Magnus sighed,

"I'm too tired for the second task that's entering your mind, so discard it," Alec grinned as he got into bed,

"In which case," Magnus began to think of Max's voice saying the word 'dad' over and over again, "I think he'd call me dad first."

Alec shot a look on shock and bewilderment at the answer. Magnus had more in common with Max as he was also a Warlock and he knew what it was like to have to carry on without the parents that were meant to raise you. He and Max would mess around in the apartment, consider new pets and drive Alec crazy on a regular basis. But Alec had grown emotionally close to Max and when they were together, it was almost as if they were father and son, just with different skin colours and one of them had horns.

"I do more dad-like things with him than you," Alec argued,

"You only tell him off more than me because I can't be bothered," Magnus sighed,

"I taught him how to ride a bike,"

"I bought him the bike,"

"You stole it like you did with the new coffee table."

Magnus gave Alec an evil glare and Alec stared back into his eyes with the same look. When they argued, they'd end up sleeping in different rooms and sometimes even having to call upon Izzy or Tessa to make them see that they were both being stubborn. But this time, all it took was a surprise kiss from Magnus.

Alec smiled and kissed him back, "I knew I'd win,"

"You're winning because I'm too tired to argue with you, Alexander," Magnus said as he lay down,

"Sure, that's the reason," Alec smirked as he lay down facing Magnus.

Their noses were almost touching and Magnus could feel Alec slowly wrap his arm around his waist. Alec's soft touch was therapeutic and Magnus closed his eyes with smile as he started to get goose bumps. Before he fell asleep, he felt Alec hold him a little tighter and brush his nose with his lips.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17- The Scorching Sunlight**

Once Silver got inside, it felt like she had just woken up from an impossible dream. She sat on the sofa as Nathaniel fussed about in the rarely used kitchen and looked at her hands as if they weren't hers. There were blood stains on them and instead of scrubbing the blood off; she licked it off until her hands looked as good as new. The taste of blood was pleasantly metallic with a hint of sweetness that made it very addictive, but Silver was slightly disgusted that this was what she had become, something that had a thirst for blood, not water.

"How are you feeling?" Nathaniel asked as he sat next to her with two cold glasses of blood,

"Disorientated, confused, sleepy," Silver found herself speaking in one note as she reached for the glass and stared at the contents.

She could remember looking at a glass of her favourite cocktail with excitement and licking her lips at the smell of tropical fruits with a hint of vodka; this was her reaction to the sight of the deep red and slightly thick liquid that was in her glass. As she took a gulp, she felt Nathaniel staring at her.

"What is it?" she asked once she had wiped her lips,

"Something feels wrong," Nathaniel said with his eyes fixed on her,

"Could it be the fact that I've gone from Shadowhunter to vampire in less than twenty-four hours?"

"No, it's definitely not that."

Nathaniel's gaze went from Silver's neck to her arms and then her hands and when she followed it, she realized what was wrong. Her runes hadn't completely gone. They fading like the usually did but shouldn't they have burned her or at least made her skin itch? Nathaniel checked her pulse and then ran his fingers over her skin to check her temperature. There was no pulse and her skin was colder than ice. Maybe she was still in the transition from Shadowhunter to vampire, or maybe she was a special type of vampire that could bare runes. Thinking about it was only making Silver even more tired.

"We'll find out what's going on with you tonight," Nathaniel said weakly before downing his glass of blood.

Silver simply nodded before getting up and going to the bedroom. In Nathaniel's wardrobe were some of Silver's clothes that she would keep there for when she slept over, but she didn't want the comfort of her own pyjamas. She reached for one of Nathaniel's crinkled up silk shirts that was abandoned towards the back of the wardrobe and changed into it. A smile grew on her face as she took in the soothing silk on her skin and then the sensation of Nathaniel putting his arms around her from behind. He kissed her cheek softly before plaiting her hair neatly.

"You finally remembered how to plait hair," she sighed as she looked at the boarded up window,

"Well, it's a skill I never really needed," Nathaniel replied.

It was weird knowing that outside, there was a rising Sun with its rays warming the ground and signalling people to wake up and a sky of pinks and oranges slowly turning to blue, but she had to stay in a room of darkness that was only lit by the hanging light bulb. As she stared at the boards shielding her from the Sun, she noticed one of the boards slightly move, something she probably wouldn't have noticed if she was still a normal Shadowhunter. Luckily, the board hadn't moved enough to allow light through and it looked like it would hold, so Silver decided to ignore it and bury herself into the bed. This would be the first time she would go to sleep and Nathaniel would be sleeping at the same time instead of watching her or playing games on his phone.

A subtle creaking noise is what woke both Silver and Nathaniel up. It the afternoon, when the Sun would be at its strongest and just by the end of the bed, there was a bright thin stream of light. Silver darted up at looked at the window that was slowly being revealed by the falling board.

"How do we put it back up?" Silver asked as she jumped out of bed,

"Screwing it onto the window should do it." Nathaniel said as he tried to work out how to get around the deadly light,

"Why hasn't it got screws holding it there in the first place?"

"I guess the vampire that lived here before me was too dumb to think of it."

Nathaniel ran as fast as he could to the other side of the room, but he stopped by the door to blow on his arm that had been slightly burnt. Silver decided to stay in the dark parts by the window so that Nathaniel could throw her the drill and screws and she could fix the window without any of them getting burnt. This seemed like a very full proof plan when Nathaniel came to the door with the drill and screws, until the board gave up on hanging on to the window and plummeted to the floor. Nathaniel dashed out of the room, dropping the drill and screws on the floor and leaving Silver in the fully sunlit room. There was no time to stand in the Sun and wait to be completely turned to ash. Silver darted to the doorway, grabbed the screws and the board and stood in front of the window. Being a vampire meant that she should've had immense strength and now was the time to test that. She placed the board up against the window and slammed the screws into it in the four corners and carried on pushing them through with her bare hands until she was sure that the screws had fixed themselves into the window. There was darkness again. Silver stood back from the window and looked at her palm that had a red screw indented shape in the middle. She was surprised that her hand hadn't started bleeding, but Nathaniel was surprised by something else.

"You should be a pile of ash by now," he said as he approached her.

Maybe Silver was some special version of a vampire thanks to the Nephilim blood that ran through her veins. She hadn't even felt the slightest burning sensation on her skin and standing in the light had felt completely normal to her. To be honest, she hadn't even realized that she was meant to be scorched while fixing the window as her mind was so set on only one thing.

"That's what's wrong about you," Nathaniel realized, "you may have turned into a vampire, but you still have angelic blood inside of you. I guess the mix has made you able to stand in daylight. There was a case of a vampire like that before,"

"You know what, we can think seriously about all this tonight. I'm still bloody tired and I just rammed by hand into four screws to the point where it's completely red," Silver sighed as she fell to the bed.

Nathaniel chuckled and lay next to her. Going from a Shadowhunter to a vampire was strange, but Silver was sure she would be able to get used to it. Going from a vampire to a vampire that could stand in daylight without becoming ash, was just another thing to add on the getting used to it list.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18- Heaven**

It was Magnus and Alec's last night in London, a night that Magnus was looking forward to. Magnus was in the shower singing as the anticipation built up inside him, while Alec was packing in advance. When he turned off the water, he heard the bathroom door open.

"Razors check," Alec said to himself.

Magnus stepped out of the shower and reached for his towel slowly as he looked at Alec watching him. It was amazing how after so long, the sight of him naked still made Alec forget the world around him, it was one of the things that stopped Magnus from feeling old.

"Your eyes have never been so wide," Magnus chuckled as he wrapped the towel around his waist and used another to dry his hair,

"I've erm," Alec's cheeks began to turn red, "I've just realized that you've been working out more,"

"It keeps me busy and stops the pizza from ruining my waistline,"

"Well erm, keep it up," Alec smiled before leaving the bathroom,

"You better not have touched the outfit I laid out on the bed!" Magnus called as he dried his skin,

"Of course I haven't, although I think there's a bit too much sparkle,"

"There is no such thing as too much sparkle, Alexander, no such thing."

Silver had recommended for them to go to many clubs, but the one that got Magnus really excited was Heaven. He had heard from many downworlder friends in London that it was the place to go not only if you were looking for a memorable one night stand, but also if you were just looking for a thrilling night to remember. Such a night would require a sparkling dark purple shirt thin enough so that he didn't get too hot too quickly, blue-grey trousers and black shoes that he knew he could dance for at least four years in without complaining. Alec on the other hand had decided that the usual black t-shirt would be fine, but had seemed to push the boat out by wearing trousers that Magnus had bought him. They were leather pants that started off as red at the top but eventually faded downwards into black. Magnus had made sure that they were slightly baggy as he knew Alec would return them if them were too tight, but they highlighted the part of Alec that Magnus loved to look at and he knew that others would admire too. At first Alec looked slightly uncomfortable in what Magnus thought were a decent pair of trousers, but as they approached the club, he seemed to have started to take a liking to them. The line for the club was filled with anticipating eighteen year olds who were getting their first taste of the life of clubbing, singles who were very much ready to mingle and people you could tell were regulars as they had casual conversations with security. Magnus set off the metal detector- most likely because of the chain on his belt, the long gold chain around his neck, his earrings and his multiple rings- and as he was patted down, he seemed to have caught the eye of who he couldn't deny was a very fine specimen of a man. He may not of had the perfect combination of black hair and blue eyes, but silk-like dark ash brown hair with golden highlights matched with his stunning grey eyes was just about good enough to make Magnus look twice. Of course, he would flirt with hi, but only for fun and maybe a few free drinks. He had promised to be faithful to Alec and even if he was completely drunk, he was not going to break that promise and definitely not tonight.

Once they got into the club, Alec seemed a little hesitant of the people around him, so Magnus decided that they would stay on the ground floor where they was more space to dance. The music was blasting, making his feet vibrate, the blue and red lights lit the thin smoke that whirled around the room, despite the loud music he could hear the sound of people laughing and singing at the top of their voices to their favourite tune and people had already began to have beads of sweat dripping down their faces yet they still danced with maximum energy. This was the atmosphere that Magus craved.

"I don't know this song," Alec shouted as Magnus dragged him on to the dance floor,

"Just dance, it doesn't matter if you know the song or not," Magnus replied as they moved slightly into the crowd.

Once a part of the crowd, Magnus loss control of his body and started dancing freely, waving his arms in the air, jumping, body rolling, anything he felt like doing. He knew Alec would be watching him laughing his head off, but when he stopped to make sure it wasn't just him having fun, he saw that Alec had let loose and was now jumping around and didn't care about the people bumping into him as they danced. At one point, a group of girls came to dance with them and Alec happily started jumping around with one of the girls and put his arm around her as they moved to the music.

But eventually, they needed a rest. The bar was always busy with people refuelling for another round of dancing, but luckily, Magnus and Alec found a gap where they could stand comfortably and lean against the bar as the recollected their energy.

"What can I get you?" asked the bartender,

"I'll just have water please," Alec said huffing and puffing,

"And for you?" the bartender asked as he handed Alec a large cup of freezing water,

Before Magnus could answer, he heard a voice say, "He'll have a sea breeze."

It was the guy that was making eyes at Magnus in the line outside the club and he looked very intent on getting close to Magnus.

"If you insist," Magnus smirked.

Alec stood up to attention, forgetting the fun he was having a focussing on the man that was trying to steal Magnus from him, but Manus patted his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "trust me." At that, Alec calmed and asked for another cup of water.

"I haven't seen you hear before," the man smiled as he got closer to Magnus.

His voice was deep but had a slightly soothing tone to it. He was a very low v-neck white shirt that teased you by revealing the outline of his abs and pale denim shorts. His cheek bones and jaw wasn't as perfectly sculpted as Alec's and when he smiled, Magnus noticed that he had dimples- a sign of true attractiveness.

"If you can tell from the accent, I'm not from here," he replied as he was handed the drink,

"Do you like it so far?"

"Well, I've been here on business, but this club is making me want to stay a bit longer,"

"I'll make you want to never leave."

This was something that Magnus was used to hearing and for someone so attractive, he was hoping this guy would have more original lines. However, he was paying for his drink and he wasn't in the mood for paying drinks the whole night.

"So, what's your name handsome?" the man asked,

"Magnus, what about yours?"

"Dean,"

Magnus finished his drink, "would you like to join us on the dance floor, Dean," he wanted to make sure Dean was aware of Alec,

"Of course I do."

Dancing with Dean wasn't so bad. He sometimes got too close, but then again, everyone in the club was dancing too close to each other. He knew quite a lot of people who took a liking to both Alec and Magnus and bought them drinks as well as making their night even more spectacular. Magnus was worried that Alec would get angry about the fact that Magnus was allowing Dean to flirt with him, but Alec obviously trusted him enough and instead saw it as amusing and laughed every time Dean used a pickup line. They ended up being a part of a group of at least eight people and went to different rooms of the club, all of which were packed with people and just as lively as the next. Time flew and soon it became mandatory that they went downstairs to the bar and rehydrated themselves. For probably the fourth time that night, Magnus and Alec had their drinks bought for them. Alec had began to take the interest of a girl called Hayley that looked to be under 21 but was as energised as a six year old at Christmas and Dean was still trying to convince Magnus that he belonged in his bed.

"What's the time?" Magnus asked as he sipped his drink,

"It's just gone 3am," replied Hayley as she stroked Alec's arm,

"Do you wanna get going or stay?" Alec asked Magnus before downing some water,

"Not sure," Magnus said as he looked around the still active club,

"Well, he could always go back and you stay here with me," Dean grinned with lustful eyes,

"I think I'll stay with him, dear,"

"You're irresistible."

At this point, Dean had a bit too much to drink and so had many of them, but Magnus made sure to pace himself and wasn't as much as a lightweight as the others. Magnus chuckled at the compliment and as he put down his drink, Dean grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulled him in and kissed him. Alec instantly pushed Dean off of Magnus with anger in his eyes. He had suddenly gone into Shadowhunter mode with his fists clenched and his eye firmly set on the guy who had kissed his boyfriend.

"What's your problem?" Dean shouted before pushing Alec back,

"Don't touch my boyfriend," Alec growled as he pushed him back.

Dean swung to punch Alec and was caught off guard when Alec caught his fist as easily as catching a tennis ball, twisted his arm and punched him in the face. As much as Magnus enjoyed seeing drunken men get beaten up, he didn't want Alec to get kicked out and wanted to go back to having a pleasurable night. He pulled Alec off of Dean and kissed him, tasting the mixture of vodka and cranberries on his lips. When he pulled away, Alec's anger had gone down and he was looking at Magnus with twinkling eyes.

"I think I've had enough free drinks, how about we get going and make our own noise," Magnus winked at him as he ran his fingers through Alec's hair,

"I like the sound of that," Alec smiled before kissing him.

What Magnus was told about Heaven was right; it did create a night to remember. But what made it so spectacular, was the delicious Shadowhunter he went clubbing with.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19- Birthday Banquet**

So Magnus and Alec's adventures in London were over. For that year anyway. Three years later, Magnus was sent a letter. It was a black envelope with a red wax seal, making Magnus very excited as to what the contents was.

 _Dear Magnus Bane,_

 _You have been invited to a banquet celebrating the birthday of the Head Vampire of London. Please bring a spectacular present for her and bring as many guests as you'd like. The banquet will take place on January 8_ _th_ _and as the location must remain a secret, you can call me when you arrive in London, assuming you still have my number. I am very much looking forward to seeing you again._

 _Yours Faithfully, Nathaniel Bouchard_

Magnus had occasionally heard from Nathaniel, but had been busy with trying to raise a very hyper warlock child as well as dealing with a little feud between a teenage gang of warlocks and vampires. Another chance to visit London was something Magnus loved the thought of and he knew that Alec would love to come along.

"Why can't I come?" complained Max as Magnus and Alec packed,

"Because it's an adult thing," Alec replied,

"It's always an adult thing. Last time you went, only Maggy got me something,"

"Max, I love you, but don't call me Maggy so much, okay," Magnus said before kissing his head and reaching for his passport,

"I'll be good, I promise."

Both Magnus and Alec turned to see an adorable pleasing face with big bright blue eyes. Max may have only been seven, but Magnus did want him to see as much of the world as possible before it got any worse and every time he left Max behind, he got into trouble.

"Okay blueberry, go get your monster suitcase and take out the clothes you want to bring with you," Magnus sighed,

"Thank you, daddy," Max giggled before hugging both Magnus and Alec and running to his room.

Daddy was a name that Magnus felt he was never going to get used to, no matter how much Max said it.

The journey to London was surprisingly smooth; Max did exactly what he was told and he seemed to enjoy the feeling of turbulence rather than being terrified like the other children on the plane. He was well behaved when they went to The London Dungeons, The London Eye and even when they went to the arcade. But when the night of the banquet came, he was like an ongoing firework that just would die down.

"Are the vampires going to have their fangs out? Will there be blood everywhere? What if I don't want to drink blood? Will they have bonbons because I'm starting to like bonbons?" never before had Max asked so many questions in one breath,

"Max, calm down and stop jumping on the bed," Alec ordered with a slightly stern voice,

"Can I sing while you do your hair, Maggy?" Max asked,

"I'm guessing you're going to sing whether I like it or not, so of course you can my bluebell," Magnus smiled as he went about curling the ends of his hair,

"Have you got the present?" Alec asked as he opened the door and pushed Max through the door,

"Yes dear," Magnus said as he put a black box into his suit pocket.

Jamal had heard that Magnus was coming to London as he was also invited to the banquet and he therefore allowed them to stay at the institute instead of having to stay at a hotel. This was good as Magnus got to catch up with Jamal after everything that had happened to him three years ago and he much preferred the antique feel of the institute than the almost too modern hotels. Max loved the institute. He saw it as a massive playhouse and wouldn't stop running around the corridors, shouting to see if he could hear his echo and going in and out of the bedrooms to compare the bounce of the beds. It was as if he had been given the maximum supply of sugar a child could have and he was fully charged every minute of every day.

Alec wore a simple black suit with a black tie and Max wanted to look like him, therefore becoming the blue mini version of his dad. Magus however had set his heart upon a dazzling sparkling burgundy suit that was lined with black, a white shirt and what he thought was a dashing bowtie. The secret location of the banquet was very familiar. It was the old warehouse that was the lair for the vampires, but it had been fixed, with black windows encrusted with gems and the name 'Warehouse' written above the doorway in black and red. This was some improvement but not where Magnus expected a banquet to be held.

"Oooooo, is this where they bring their victims?" Max whispered to Alec as they walked towards the entrance.

Alec could only laugh in response as they got to the door. Nathaniel stood in a sharp black suit with a swirled N on the chest pocket. He obviously looked like he hadn't aged and he had slicked back his hair with gel so his gorgeous cheekbones could be stared at and Magnus notices a bit of glitter around the corners of both of his eyes.

"You are the last guests of honour," Nathaniel smiled,

"We're guests of honour? Does that mean we get special seats? Will there be chicken nuggets?" Max looked up at Nathaniel,

"Of course there will and there's always chocolate ice cream," Nathaniel smiled,

"Don't get him too excited; he'll never shut up," Alec said before Nathaniel led in to the warehouse, up the red carpet dressed stairs and into the dining room. For a room in a warehouse, the dining room was immaculately dressed with a long grand glass dining table that had golden legs upon a black sparkling carpet floor. The walls were a deep red rimmed with gold and displaying fine works and there were normal windows to let the moonlight and starlight pour in to the chandelier lit room. Bouquets of roses and lilies ran through the middle of the table along with black, white and red candles. The cutlery was just as intricate as the ceiling of the room that had swirling patters on and the occasional rune. There were vampires, Shadowhunters, warlocks and faeries at this dining table, all to celebrate the birthday of a vampire.

"Why do vampires celebrate birthdays?" Max asked as they sat at the table,

"Why not?" Magnus chuckled.

They were placed next to the head of the table along with Jamal and the James' who Magnus wasn't too keen on seeing but smiled politely at and introduced Max to. Max instantly took a liking for Stewart who had brought manga books with him and began to show Max the art.

"He's living up to the name," Alec smiled,

"If we end up having to buy him an infinite amount of manga books, you're paying for them," Magnus laughed,

"Agreed."

"If everyone could settle down, she should be coming in any moment now," Nathaniel proclaimed as he sat down at the head of the table next to Jamal.

Magnus was excited to meet the new head of the London vampires; he was hoping that she'd be nicer than the last one, but he had a guess that she would still be quite blood thirsty. However, to throw such a do for her with Downworlders and Shadowhunters happily attending, she must've been someone special. Soon the sound of high heels came towards the dining room door and the doors swung open and the head of the London vampires was revealed. She wore a long tiffany blue dress that had a freely flowing skirt with a slit at the side, the top was covered in lace and rhinestones up until the waist and the royal look was finished with a diamond bracelet, matching earrings and sparkle in her curled brown hair. It was Silver.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20- Presents**

The vampires around the table rose, queuing everybody else to get up and they all bowed to the once Shadowhunter vampire leader. With a smile, Silver glided gracefully to the head of the table and nodded, giving everyone the signal that allowed them to sit back down again.

"She's pretty," Max whispered to Magnus as Silver sat down.

They were only a couple of seats away from her on the large dining table, so Silver could just about hear what Max had said.

"Thank you," she smiled, "you must be Max,"

"I am actually. Are you the vampire leader?" he asked with a sweet voice,

"Yes, I am,"

"Will I be allowed to have chicken nuggets?"

"Of course you will."

Silver could see surprise on the faces of both Alec and Magnus who had the blue curious Max in the middle of them. She probably should've explained the situation before they had come, but she had been so busy with matters around London that she had completely forgot.

"Remember what happened the night I was bitten?" Silver looked at Alec,

"Of course," Alec replied,

"Well, at the same time as being bitten, I killed Eleanor,"

Alec's face showed that he begun to understand the situation, "and as you killed the leader of the vampires, you took her place,"

"Actually, we voted for her to take her place since Nathaniel didn't want the job," said one of the vampires who shrunk into his seat as he felt he had spoken out of turn.

Silver chuckled as she waved her hand, signalling for dinner to be brought in. Ornate china plates with patterns made of black, gold and red swirled lines were put on the table with the food that Silver had selected for people to have. She had chosen carefully knowing that the faeries would prefer not to eat meat, the werewolves would most likely want steak and she left Jamal in charge of what to serve the Shadowhunters as she was busy trying to find an easy way of getting fresh and cool blood. Even though it had been three years, Silver was still finding drinking blood weird- probably because of the Shadowhunter in her- and had to add pepper to it to so that it would go down easier. Other vampires had taken a likely to her as well as the cocktails that she'd make with the blood they stored. Tonight they were having a bloody sex on the beach cocktail which came in a tall curved class and a slice of orange that probably none of them were going to eat.

"Can I have one of those?" Max asked unknowingly as he began to dig in to his chicken nuggets,

"You wouldn't like it, blueberry," Magnus laughed,

"Why not? You said that about sushi, cheesecake and macaroons but I ended up liking them,"

"This has peppermint in it,"

"In which case whatever that drink is, it's disgusting."

Everybody around the table laughed. The vampires were rarely around children, so Max was a rare delight to them and seemed to be the source of entertainment for most of diner. Silver loved the fact that her birthday had brought together so many different beings from the Shadow world and they all get along, at one point, she swore she saw a vampire kissing a werewolf's cheek. The only reason why she wanted her birthday celebrated in this way is because she had rarely been around anyone other than vampires and it was about time that changed.

When dinner and desert was finished, it was time for the presents. Silver had requested that she was to be given spectacular presents as she had thrown such a spectacular evening of suits, gowns, and delicious meal. The first present given to her was from her father, who of course gave her a weapon and this time it was a Georgian period gun rimmed with gold, able to take bullets and it had her name engraved in it. Nathaniel bought her a pair of stilettos with a rose pattern going up the heel that she had been pointing out for at least a year.

"We hope you like it," Max giggled as he gave Silver a velvet black box.

She picked up Max and put him on her lap as she had taken a liking to him and loved the jokes he was making about other people throughout the night.

"Did you pick it out?" she asked as ran her fingers over the smooth velvet,

"No, Magnus did. He said it's better than this red necklace he once bought someone," Max smiled,

"In which case, I think I might like it," Silver smiled as she lifted the lid of the box.

It was a beautiful sparkling crystal necklace that had an exquisite sapphire heart at the end. She had never been given such amazing jewellery before and as she lifted it up by the heart, she heard everyone else gasp at its beauty.

"It has a spell on it. Even if you are drained of all energy, the heart will give you all the energy you need," Magnus smiled,

"He hasn't given Alec any presents like that," Max whispered to her,

"Does that make me special?" she laughed,

"Yeah, the bestest vampire ever."

Silver laughed as Alec came behind her and put the necklace around her neck. The heart rested perfectly on her chest and even better, the sapphire matched her dress. Once it was put on, she felt a connection with it and the heart began to shine brightly before returning back to its natural state.

"Thank you Alec," Silver kissed his cheek,

"You're very much welcome," he smiled before sitting back down.

The rest of the presents were great, but not nearly as good as the necklace she had been given and after the presents, a gramophone was brought in and despite the look of it, it played music that reminded Silver of all the clubs she had been to. Max danced with her for a while, before getting tired and sitting at the table with Stewart who took him through more of his manga books. Silver made sure to talk to at least everyone who had been invited to her party. The faeries she invited she had met at clubs and always knew how to make her laugh to the point where she had to battle for air and the handful of werewolves she knew from when she was a Shadowhunter were more than happy to celebrate her birthday despite her being a vampire. The final people she had to thank for coming were Magnus and Alec. They were dancing in the corner of the room intimately which made Silver decide to thank them later, but Magnus had caught waiting.

"You really know how to throw a party," Magnus smiled,

"This is more of a kind of posh celebration, I'll be having a proper party for my next birthday," Silver replied,

"In which case, put us at the top of the invitation list,"

"So, how is it being the leader of the London vampires?" Alec asked before drinking a glass of water,

"It has its perks. There have been less incidents, Downworlders are calmer and we have a good connection with Shadowhunters. The best thing is that I'm still called for when it comes to Shadowhunter business."

As they talked, Silver felt Nathaniel put his arms around her waist from behind her and Max ran in the middle of them.

"I'm tired, I must have beauty sleep," Max proclaimed,

"Of course little boy blue," Alec smiled as he picked him up, "you've been well behaved tonight,"

"I told you I would be. Bye Silver, I'll learn how to send fire messages to you,"

"Goodbye you special boy," Silver laughed before goodbye to Magnus and Alec.

Magnus and Alec walked down the steps and out of the Warehouse with Max singing away.

"Will I have birthday parties like that?" Max asked as Alec put him down,

"Definitely not," Alec insisted,

"You'll have much better ones," Magnus added while patting Max's head,

"With a horse and a bouncy castle and can we have a mermaid and get Clary to paint our faces?" Max began to go from sleepy to excited,

"Anything you want," Magnus said before Alec could talk.

They started to walk down the street as Magnus fancied it rather than using a portal and it would lower Max's energy levels. However, he kept going on about all the things he wanted at his next birthday party and Magnus kept agreeing, he even made some suggestions that included water balloon fights and a fort.

"Is this going to be Max's party, or yours?" Alec asked Magnus as Max swung their arms,

"Both," Magnus laughed and kissed Alec's cheek,

Alec sighed, "What have I signed up for?"


End file.
